Face The Music
by Man of Sitruuna
Summary: A popular, charming girl versus a scruffy ne'er-do-well; at face value, it's no surprise Yamanaka Ino never cared for her fellow student, Naruto. But a surprising discovery on a night out ruins her preconceptions, leading her into an odd friendship and, soon enough, the realisation that some people put up an act for a reason. AU HS Fic. M for language.
1. Idiot or Prodigy?

**Disclaimer: I own no assets of Naruto. Nor do I own any materials pertaining to the music used in the chapter.**

**Ages: All the Rookie Nine students plus Gaara are 17 at present. Neji, Tenten and Lee (when I put him in) are 18. Temari is 19. I've kept Zabuza at his part 1 age of 26. I've upped Haku's age in relation to the rookie 9. So I've made him 21 in this.**

* * *

**Face the Music**

**A Naruto Fan Fiction**

**Chapter 1: Idiot or Prodigy?**

An alarm clock. It's a simple piece of technology; one half of the title's duty tells the time, the other refers to their secondary – or even dual primary – function. They come in many shapes and sizes, noises and volumes, but they all do the same thing: they wake up the lazy ass sleeping across from them. All in all, they are but inanimate objects, but they fulfill their duty without regard to neither consequence nor status of their victim, but they can bear very unfortunate ends. And, regrettably, an unfortunate end was to be the fate of Yamanaka Ino's alarm clock as the brunt of her fist smashed down upon it with a little more force than the manufacturers would deem necessary.

The never-ending claxon that emanated from the ironically small machine was suddenly halted as small shards of plastic and a single AA battery flew towards different corners of the overly purple bedroom, lightly clanging against the wooden floor before echoing away into nothingness. Such a shame, that clock had been through and survived a lot over its two years of life, and now the plastic face laid cracked and the digital display blank as if it never existed…it was now nothing but a dead carcass, soon to be thrown into the trash like it had never lived a dutiful life of waking up its violent owner.

Naturally, none of that mattered to the seventeen-year-old young woman, whose hair flowed and meandered down her back like a blonde river that started at the watershed that was her scalp. She stared at her extended fist through half lidded eyes, the realisation dawning upon her features when she finally realised she'd done it again.

'_Dammit! That's the third one in five years!'_ While she chastised herself with loud vigour in her mind, her lips and vocal chords could barely spit out a low groan in translation, a groan that could also convey disappointment over numerous aspects of the coming day. One: It was a school day. Two: They were going to be serving fish at the cafeteria. Three: She shared the majority of today's classes with one of her lesser-favoured acquaintances. Four: It was a Friday.

Wait…

"YES!" The blonde's laziness was suddenly declared redundant as she lifted her upper body vertical. Such an action was soon regretted as she felt her blood drain away from her brain and momentarily darken her vision. She grasped her head and used her fingers to slowly massage her scalp, noting how her hair felt slightly coarse despite having only washed it the afternoon before. She repeated her earlier groan as she flung the duvet away from the side of her bed and slowly coaxed her legs into moving outwards, exposing her cream coloured thighs and unbelievably smooth shins.

She reached her arms above her head in her predictable morning stretching pattern, her small sleeveless purple top lifting in perfect synchronicity with her shoulders as she drew out a long yawn. Any man watching would have been truly mesmerised by the outward expansion of her chest as it was pushed out, easily revealing the beginning and end of the curves of her youthful bust, one which earned the eyes of many a fellow student over the past three years.

Ino had always taken pride in her looks. Her face was totally unblemished, which gave no real reason for why she left a single thick batch of her blonde hair to dangle and conceal almost the entirety of the right side of her face. Her amazingly deep eyes of light-tinted teal were a near perfect contrast to her platinum blonde locks that ended at the small of her back. Her mid C-cup chest was one that grasped both the admiration from the boys and the jealousy of the girls; suffice to say that it was one of the only reasons anybody had ever wanted to go out with her. Her breasts immediately progressed into a flat and slightly toned stomach, courtesy of her regular jogs and occasional two-week diet terms. Her thin waist birthed beneath it a lovely set of wide hips that supported a perky and round derriere that would knock anybody dead from blood loss should she decide to wear a skirt or anything with fabric tight enough to resemble a second skin. From there her long, firm legs travelled all the way down to a pair of soft, light coloured feet. She freely admitted that her body was the biggest factor to make her feel good about herself, but it disheartened her to think that it was the only thing that people would see her for. It wasn't like she didn't have brains either, otherwise she wouldn't be in the running for a place in college as a journalism student once she finished her senior year of high school.

Despite her hypnotizing looks and above average intellect, she was by no means a model student in the social aspect. She was quite bossy, brash, confident, sometimes overly so, and sadly unafraid of belittling others if her own personal progression was being blocked by whatever unfortunate soul got in her way. She was by no means an ice queen, but her attitude staved off enough people that tried to get an idea, that's why she was more comfortable at being stared at rather than being approached by those who thought themselves to be hot stuff.

All in all, the way people would describe her made her sound like the stereotypical spoilt brat of a rich oil tycoon or sports club chairman. That, however, was far from the case. Her father, Inoichi, owned and helped to operate an independent but popular flower shop in downtown Konoha. Her mother, Inoto, was the full-time perm who tended to the customer service and decoration of the store, and usually got help from her husband three days a week when it came to deliveries and heavy lifting duties such as large hanging baskets. Financially, they were a near-totally self-sufficient family, and Ino herself would earn her allowance by working on Saturdays. Inoto's name was on the majority of the shop's paperwork and income books; this was because Inoichi was also a fully qualified Psychologist, working regularly at a local clinic in the field of psychotherapy. Despite the apparent happy family work ethic, their home life was quite calm. The Yamanaka's lived in a simple detached two floor house in one of the more middle-class areas just west of the city centre. There was no white picket fence to decorate the near non-existent front garden, but the driveway that connected to the front porch via a stone slab path allowed for safe vehicle parking rather than keeping it out on the side of the road.

Some people, when looking at her, would think she had it all: looks, personality (well, when it came to people who liked having a woman that could give them a challenge), intellect and money. The majority of that seemed so, but all in all her family were simply making the money to get by. They couldn't afford a flashy car or an Olympic sized swimming pool in the backyard, it was enough to pay the bills, put food on the table and leave a few dollars to go and treat themselves every few weeks. Overall, they were really just a basic middle class family.

Ino's looks didn't reflect this, but that was only because she knew that working hard for oneself would get one far in the world. _She _had originally made the offer to work for her parents to make her money, _she_ took the incentive to go out and keep herself looking fit and healthy, _she_ pushed herself through middle school and her early high school years to get herself set for a bright future…unlike some other idiots she knew.

_She_ had done all of this. But after seventeen, going on eighteen years of life…she still hadn't had a proper boyfriend.

Sure, there was the odd guy who piqued her interest, but very few had that…she couldn't currently put a word to the single thing that she was looking for. Then again, that never stopped her from competing with her best friend of ten years to win over the heart of the lead singer of the official school Indie band: Uchiha Sasuke.

All of these things had shot through her head within a grand time of five seconds as she dully gazed down at her trimmed, unvarnished toenails. But as soon as the word Sasuke flashed in her mindscape with numerous thousand-watt neon lights and his face came into view, she let out a smitten sigh.

'_Wait! Sasuke-kun's band practices on Fridays!'_ As soon as that thought had started, she was shooting out of her room, quickly turning right to avoid the stairs that were directly ahead of the entrance of her room, and heading the few extra metres across the landing to head into the bathroom.

Half-an-hour later, emerging from within a plume of steam that made the whole room look like a sauna, came a towel-clad Ino with darkened, water-matted and flat hair that perfectly outlined her scalp and traversed down her smooth cheek, cementing itself to her collarbone and down the back of her neck. She exhaled with minor elation before heading back into her room, too embroiled in her own relaxed state to hear her mother holler a quick 'good morning' from downstairs.

Her realisation before heading for the shower was the exact reason for Ino's provocative choice of underwear: a lacy, practically transparent black underwire bra that slightly uplifted her eye-popping chest along with identical panties…minus the transparency at the front for the sake of lower region dignity. She had been the kind of girl to flaunt her looks, but not enough to make her think she was open to any drooling pig that got some nosebleed inducing idea. Sasuke's band would practice during the hour lunch break, and they were certainly not alien to having numerous fangirls _and_ boys – thanks to the female bassist, Itodane Karin – trample all over each other outside their room. Although the blind fanatics called it 'Sasuke's band'…it really wasn't. 'Will of Fire' was the official band of Konoha High, founded six years before by the then junior year students. As the generations passed, new students would audition to become backups that would eventually replace the outgoing graduates in their attempt to grasp the campus-wide spotlight, and maybe get more credit before leaving for college.

Sasuke followed in his older brother's footsteps by making it to lead singer, further fuelling everybody else's scrutiny that the Uchiha were nothing but attention whores. Before he had actually joined, he was already pined over by roughly one third of the girls in his year, and at least one quarter of those in the year below; so it was no surprise that 'Will of Fire's' popularity skyrocketed over the space of a week. Ino took an arrogant, simple-minded pride in being Sasuke's self proclaimed first fan, a title that…once again…was fought over by Haruno Sakura. And thus the love-hate cycle of their friendship began all over again like it did in both lower and middle school. The fangirl duo personified the phrase, _'Some things never change'_.

Sasuke aside, Ino was also looking forward to a night out at one of the biggest nightclubs that Konoha had to offer: The Sixty-Four Palms, named as such because that was usually the minimum number of hands that were planted against one of the many bars at any one time on a busy night; and all for the sake of getting a drink. She and Sakura both had been to the establishment a few times over the past year, exploiting the single-track minds of the bouncers to avoid being ID'd. Hey, they couldn't help it that they looked stunningly gorgeous; enough so to make them look like they had just hit twenty.

The scales in her mind weighed the few niggling annoyances of the day against the parts she was bound to enjoy, and the bias was obvious as the scale not only favoured the enjoyment side, but it had toppled in its direction and fallen off its imaginary pedestal from all the weight that Ino's mindscape had slapped on it.

Yep…today was going to be fun.

* * *

Ino smiled as she basked in the warmth provided by the partially cloud-blocked sun as she walked down the last street of her daily walk to Konoha High. All the way through the morning up to now she could feel her jitteriness come across her features in anticipation of seeing the hunk she was determined to nab and call hers. A gentle breeze blew across from her left, letting her hair flap outwards like a natural short length cape and revealing the round rear of her somewhat tight jeans, above which was a purple button-up shirt with three-quarter length sleeves. Although Ino had strategically buttoned her top to display only the first few millimetres of her cleavage, it was still enough to make the boys' imaginations run wild. While strategy seemed to have no real legitimate implementation in her clothing choice, it was her intention to sift out the lusters from the potentials…then again, only one man was a potential in her eyes. Anybody who got the idea that looking down her top was the path to her eyes (which was roughly 99.5 percent of the males she came across) was a self-serving luster; but that didn't necessarily mean that those who ignored her chest and paid attention to her face during conversation were any better, it simply showed that they had more self discipline. Ironically, this attitude had never been reflected onto the Uchiha himself. He never actively sought any girl out, despite them practically begging for him to dive between their legs, and never showed any incentive that would so much as hint towards somebody he admired. Even when Ino had struck up multiple, albeit very short and almost one-sided conversations with the near-emotionally dead young man, he never looked anywhere below her nose line. However, Ino being Ino, she chalked that down to the guy showing his respectful side, and not to obliviousness.

Ino's internal reverie was disrupted by the repetitive monotone blare of a car horn overlapping the growling of an over-enhanced turbo engine. A BMW Z3 convertible, kitted out in a nausea-inducing blood red paint scheme, flew past while the two occupant's wolf-whistles were already dying down in the distance. These were the kind of assholes that frustrated her to no end: disrespectful, brainless morons who thought a car meant everything. She felt like flipping them off as they blew by, but that would only satisfy their habit further; in these situations, ignorance was indeed bliss.

Four minutes and a double check of her workbooks later she was walking up the short flight of stairs and through the main entrance of Konoha High. The majority of the school was a single red brick, 1950's styled building shaped like a three-sided square, and the playing fields, sports and maintenance equipment lockers and gym were located further away in a wide clearing made of natural grass, fenced off Astroturf, tennis courts and a half-sized baseball field. A large eight-foot high wall encompassed the majority of the grounds, and was erected roughly ten metres away from the furthest outgoing point; basically a square inside another square. Two black, inward swinging wrought iron gates covered the large gap in the wall that made out the main entrance.

Ino made her way to the eastern wing on the ground floor and her feet took her straight to her first destination of the day. She found the door to her homeroom open like it was any other day, and had no hesitation in bursting right in with a somewhat self-righteous smile, one that said, _'Time to pay attention to me!' _

The homeroom of Class 4 was no different from any other standard lecturing room. The door was in the bottom right corner, if one was to look straight ahead from the dry board, and a row of three-metre high windows covered almost the entire length of the far left wall, revealing some of the internal courtyard stuck between the east and west wings, as well as the west wing itself further in the distance. The seating was separated into three even sections, each split vertically by a shallow staircase, with each section being split horizontally into six elongated desks. It allowed for enough individual space to splay out a work and textbook next to each other without running across onto somebody else's materials.

Now on a Friday, one would commonly expect students to be eager to get to classes so that they could be done and dusted. The sight that greeted Ino's teal eyes was almost identical, but had then been flipped upside down and reversed.

In the upper corner, furthest from the door, sat a boy with short red hair and black eyeliner covering the entirety of his eyelids. His arms were crossed and he was leaning lazily against the back wall while showing a firm interest in the plaster of the wall directly across from him. At the front desk, with his feet crossed upon its surface and holding an orange book, sat their homeroom teacher, Hatake Kakashi. The silver haired man always aroused suspicions amongst his students, mostly because of his unwavering superstition surrounding airborne germs and particles, which was the reason for his wearing of a doctor's white surgical mask. He had worn one the day he was first introduced to Ino's class, and he had not been seen without it since…at least in this class' history. Nevertheless, he was a quirky man who liked to 'get down' with his students…such actions included planting his feet on his desk and reading adult novels during school time.

With his head of pulled back, dark brown hair lying flat against the desk in the middle seating area on the front row sat one of Ino's childhood friends, Nara Shikamaru. A lazy guy above anything else, Shikamaru was still one of the school's smartest students, and it was a common occurrence for his report cards to mention that the boy could be a genius in and of his own class if he got off his ass and worked harder. Regardless, he always handed assignments in on time and usually got exceptional grades, even though he was usually spending the majority of the night before the deadline date finishing it up. Ino and Shikamaru's fathers were old school friends themselves and kept in touch most of their lives, which secured the bond that they would pass down to their children. To each other, there was more of a sibling feel to their relationship, since Ino didn't like the idea of having a lazy boyfriend, and the blonde herself reminded Shikamaru too much of his bossy mother.

Much to her chagrin, Sakura had already arrived. The simple fact that she had arrived behind her best friend was not what initiated her blood boiling process.

It was the fact that she was sat in the only available space next to Sasuke, who was on the second row of the furthest desk area right next to the windows, staring out towards nothing as the pinkette nattered on about something regarding a new dress and how it hugged her curves. Very few words were processed in Ino's mind as she entered her 'competitive mode'; focussing on nothing but Sakura's wide open body language and hair flicking, the majority of the surrounding noise simply went in one ear and out the other.

She stormed over to the windows, failing to spare a single glance to the one other current occupant of the room that she had missed, who himself was too embroiled in his iPod Touch to care for anything in his immediate vicinity. Even as Ino forced her feet down in an attempt to get a reading on the Richter scale, Sakura had turned her entire body to the raven-haired man in such a way that another single degree would mean she'd be straddling her area of the flat bench. Unfortunately, the frilled knee-length skirt of bright pink may have just been implemented for that exact reason, and that only served to raise the temperature in Ino's cheeks.

Even as she filtered into the third row, right behind the pitiful scene, Sasuke was still staring out the window, and Sakura was too busy twirling one of her bangs through her fingers to bother looking behind her. Sakura finally spared a look behind her when it felt like a gun had been discharged right next to her head. She looked at the small, uneven pile of books that now sat on the desk behind her, and followed the button line of the purple shirt up to a pair of eyebrow-disturbed orbs of light blue.

And Sakura's reaction: a smile that had 'I won' written all over it.

"Morning, Ino", Sakura chimed sweetly, pretending to not be affected by the murderous glance that was returned by her friend. Ino sat down and grumbled out a 'morning' between pursed lips. All of a sudden, the scales that had balanced the day in her favour early in the morning had returned to their pedestal and slowly shifted to the negative.

'_Great. First Billboard gets the seat next to Sasuke-kun, and now I've got to live with that _idiot_ for two hours!'_ Ino's mind was referring to the figure she had walked past earlier and since ignored until the moment she looked over to him, sat on his own on the fourth row of the seating area nearest the door. He was sat on the end of the row with his right leg idly sticking out into the staircase, effectively blocking it off from anybody else except the other idiots – as Ino called them – who would sit with him.

The boy in question wore a dark pair of jeans coupled with a black and white patterned box frame-buckled belt. On his upper half, his first layer was a simple orange t-shirt with a black spiral pattern over the left breast. The second layer was also black, consisting of a long-sleeved button-up shirt. The collar was down, the buttons undone, and the sleeves were rolled halfway up his arms, stopping at the elbows. He had shining blonde hair that most certainly did not reflect the nature of dirtiness he seemed to exhume; and his blue eyes, deeper than Ino's, had somewhat of a mystery surrrounding them. At times they could be wide, bright and cheerful, at others they would narrow and harden to reflect some kind of inner turmoil. His long fringe was held back by a thin black bandana with an orange swirl similar in design to that on his t-shirt on the front, giving his hair a messy look as it cascaded down the sides and back of his head to his jaw line and lower neck respectively. The flanks framed his face while the uncovered parts of his fringe tried to fight against the bandana and drop again, making it only as far as his eyebrows.

This was Uzumaki Naruto. One of the two class dunces, a title jointly held between both himself and the dog lover Inuzuka Kiba. 'Dunce' was in fact the name bestowed upon them by the other students; they still did their parts as students by handing in work on time…but that was it. Naruto himself was a hyperactive young man, a prankster who always had a smile that Ino wanted to punch and dislodge some teeth from. She didn't _hate_ the guy by any standards, he was just…annoying; and the fact he was always the one to try stupid things in school time did not do his reputation any favours. Things like deliberately sneezing on his term paper before handing it to Kakashi, thus kicking off the teacher's tendency to kill the germs…using fire. Naruto ended up laughing too much to bother retaking the paper.

She narrowed her eyes at Naruto as he mindlessly bobbed his head up and down to a tune on his iPod, noting how his brow had crinkled into one of concentration. Interestingly, Naruto would have one of these days every few weeks. He'd do nothing for the whole day except pay attention to his earphones and tap out a beat on whatever surface his fingers could reach: a desk, his thighs…Kiba's head.

'_I guess it won't be that bad if he's gone into his hypnosis mode. Why can't he be like this all the time? That way he'd stop annoying everybody.'_ That was another reason why Ino wasn't too fond of the class's only other blonde, she felt that he never took his life seriously. He didn't seem to be bothering so much with his work, despite being constantly warned that he could leave with grades that would not impress more prestigious employers. Ino worked hard for everything, and Naruto was almost the opposite, therefore she didn't see why he should have the pleasure of her time.

Ten minutes later, Kakashi put his book away once he noticed that the chatter had died down as the students waited to be called on the register. He leant forward, grabbing a pen from his breast pocket and poising the nib at the first name.

Even as the class waited for everybody else to turn up, Naruto was still too immersed in his iPod and using the desk as a drum set to hear his name be called out. The lyrics, vocal style, guitars and drumbeat…all of them had amalgamated into a beautiful collection of harmonies that soothed his ears. He loved these days, when nothing mattered but him and his own enjoyment away from the mockery of his friends and fellow students. Sadly, while he thought about his overdue time of solitude, he hadn't felt his left earphone get yanked out, nor the short breath against his ear before…

"NARUTO!"

The blonde jumped from the sheer volume and proximity of the foghorn-like wail. His recoil had been powerful enough to throw him backwards and crumpling into a pile between his bench and the backing wall, his body almost contorting into a 'J' shape as his legs stuck up towards the ceiling. His reverie was finally broken as he heard the usual mocking and degrading laughter of his class.

'_Yep. Let's hear it for Uzumaki Naruto. The class's pre-determined target of constant humiliation.'_ While Naruto's inner mind had created a verbally intelligent and constructive sentence, what came out of his mouth was the ghetto translation, solely directed at the person who had put him on the floor in the first place.

"Fuck you, Kiba!" Naruto had to fall towards the side and onto the stairway before he could stand up and shift back onto the desk.

"So glad you could return from the stage, Naruto", Kakashi sarcastically retorted before finally ticking Naruto's name on the sheet sat before him. Some of the students smiled at Kakashi's joke and gave Naruto another look before ignoring him once again, but Gaara actually frowned with disdain. Naruto simply shrugged the remark off and shot an unimpressed look to the boy who was still snickering next to him.

"Kiba, I'm going to neuter you some day, you know that?" Naruto quipped loud enough for the whole class to hear. Kiba smiled smugly before looking straight back into Naruto's eyes and responding.

"You're just saying that as an excuse to see my dick, you queer!" Kiba laughed to himself, earning a few backing giggles from across the room.

'_Gotcha'_, Naruto prematurely threw a victory party in his head.

"Who said I was calling you a guy? I was talking about your pussy, you moron." With a humorous grin and a quick cackle, Naruto faced the front, opting to ignore the look of anger on Kiba's face as some of the other students laughed at Naruto's jibe and began chimes of _'Burned'_. In all honesty, it was hard for a lot of people to believe that the two warmongers were close friends.

"I hope you enjoy doing that improv, Dobe. It's the closest you'll ever get to being in a band", Sasuke spoke up confidently and leaving no room for argument, intent on stopping Naruto's verbal victory pride in its tracks. The remark got both Sakura and Ino to look in Naruto's direction with equal full-of-themselves sneers, all in the manner of silently supporting their crush. Naturally, the guy who just so happened to be in a band had to go and make fun of somebody who was merely acting like they were.

Over time, everybody had come to know Naruto as someone who took everything on the chin and smiled afterward; why he did it was something that only those closest to him knew. So it came as a surprise to the trio by the window when they saw the spiky-haired blonde glare back with a deep frown and a clenched jaw; something his fellow students had rarely seen the likes of before. The way he had tilted the top of his head towards the light emphasised the shadows surrounding the strange whisker marks on his cheeks, further pronouncing them and giving him a distinctly feral look when it was combined with his piercing blue eyes. So out of character was the expression that they couldn't help but stare back in genuine confusion – although Sasuke's face was still stoic as ever – and bewilderment. It was all the better, because if they had continued to look around, they would have noticed Gaara also staring down at them with the face he had adopted earlier from Kakashi's jibe.

'_What the hell? He looked like he wanted to attack one of us!'_ Ino suddenly felt nervous as she played back Naruto's face. It was so primal, so animalistic, and so…dangerously magnetising and attractive.

'_Wait…WHAT?'_ Ino rapidly shook her head and widened her eyes as the movement ceased. She wasn't sure whether she had hallucinated that or not, but the mere thought - be it real or dream - that her mind had suddenly diverted itself away from her sane conscience and complimented Naruto on his looks was enough to throw her a curveball. She needed something to take her mind off the sudden change in her attitude…fast. Quickly leaning forward, Ino tapped Sakura on the shoulder, getting an impatient look from the pink-haired flaunter due to the interruption of her 'Sasuke Swooning' time.

"Are we still on for the 'Palms tonight, forehead?" Sakura frowned at the moniker, but promptly switched her face to her previously cheerful one, clearly hinting her anticipation of their night out.

"Of course!" Sakura suddenly jumped with an idea, widening her smile and turning back to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, why don't you come with us? We'll have drinks, do some dancing-"

"No", Sasuke shot back without hesitation nor turning away from the window he had returned to looking out from, "I have things to do tonight, things that take precedence over hanging out with people like you." His voice was completely devoid of emotion bar the low, cold tone he tended to adopt when he was in thought. Both girls' shoulders slumped in disappointment, not allowing themselves to be fazed by the hurtful remark. Even when Sasuke took shots at them much like this one, they never got the hint that the boy just wasn't interested. Many of the groups impervious to Sasuke's so called 'charm' felt that dating a fridge would get better results. Both were cold, unemotional and physically stiff, but at least the fridge could give you a refreshing drink when you wanted one.

* * *

The school day passed by without incident for the buxom blonde. Naruto kept quiet for the majority of her classes, and she even caught him _working _during English, which got her worried about the possibility of an impending apocalypse. She had had a quick lunch before teaming up with Sakura to watch Sasuke's band practice in the music studios – neither girl ever called it by its proper name – and mindlessly smile at his singing. Will of Fire's practice sessions had become more frequent in preparation for a Battle of the Bands contest that was coming up in two months time. They practiced like they wanted to win, but almost everybody knew that there were next to no other competitors, nor did they have the skill their precious Uchiha exhibited. While the band had stopped to have a drink, Ino noticed a shadowy figure near one of the few fire exits. She didn't know how long the unknown addition had been standing there, but she was positive that they were interested in what Will of Fire, nee Sasuke's band, had to offer. She suddenly got farfetched ideas that it was a studio scout looking for new talent. But just before they started playing their last song, the figure, who looked no older than herself in neither posture nor body structure, had simply vanished, leaving almost no trace of their existence.

She walked down the steps outside the main entrance with another cheery smile, revving herself up for a night on the town with her best friend. She already had her get-up planned out, how much money she would take, how many guys she was predicting that would come up and ask her for a dance; all in all, tonight was going to be fun, much more so than the bland day she had just experienced.

As she approached the gates at the outer wall, she saw numerous figures grouped by a fully leafed oak tree a way off to the left of her field of vision. The tree itself had a bench that had been built around the circumference of its trunk, allowing for a 360-degree, outward facing seating arrangement. Immediately, she recognised Naruto's waving blonde hair as he continually bobbed his head to a beat going through his ears, tapping his thighs and sometimes slapping the arm of the boy to his left. Ino saw the unmistakable blackened eyes of Gaara look up at Naruto, and she stood motionless as she watched his lips articulate something. Not being schooled in lip reading, she could only start to imagine what he had said. For some reason, the mysteriousness of their proximity only served to whet her appetite for gossip; she wanted to get closer, but feared that they would scram like startled squirrels. Naruto, meanwhile, just kept on tapping, completely oblivious to Gaara's words. Stood side by side in front of her peers were two slightly taller students, both of which had one of their arms wrapped behind the other's waist. One figure had long, dark brown hair that stopped at the middle of his back, and the woman in his arm had lighter but shorter hair which had been wrapped up into two buns atop her head. For some reason, they always reminded Ino of a cartoon mouse she once saw on TV as a child.

The two halves of the duo formed one of Konoha High's oldest couples, Hyuuga Neji and Kamezura Tenten. Neji was the well respected cousin of one of Ino's classmates, Hinata; while Tenten was an ordinary student whose parents owned a local gun shop and firing range. Ino was never close to Tenten, but the fact their parents were alike in the sense of self-employment was enough for the younger girl to respect her. Neji and Tenten had gotten together in 9th Grade and had been happily together ever since; so strong was their relationship that there were even rumours going around that Neji was planning to propose at their graduation ceremony at the end of the year. Whatever their future plans, looking at them made Ino smile, but also upset a small part of her, the part that wondered when she'd find her perfect guy.

'_Probably not in the next three or four years'_, she thought without any hope. Keeping her eyes on the four by the tree, she saw the three not enraptured in listening to music actively talking to each other. With all the hand movements going around, it looked like they were having some sort of debate or question and answer time. But to Ino, the whole scene just looked wrong. Naruto had hardly ever spoken a syllable to neither Neji nor Tenten since their sophomore year, when Naruto faced off against the elder Hyuuga for upsetting Hinata over something. That one confrontation started the rumour mill going over a potential crush Naruto had for the violet-haired girl; and while Naruto tried his best to nip the myths in the bud, Hinata simply blushed and incoherently mumbled whenever people asked her. It was no hidden fact that Hinata had a crush on Naruto since middle school, despite the latter's total obliviousness.

Naruto finally pulled his earphones out and let them dangle freely from where they emerged from his t-shirt neck; the cable disappeared underneath the fabric and traversed down his torso to the iPod jack socket. He looked up at Neji without a single hint of anger or disdain, and began openly conversing with him, much like Gaara had done. The calm interaction between the age-gapped students only confused Ino more, and her mind had zoned out her surroundings and dedicated itself to trying to figure out what their connection to each other consisted of. Only when the quadro of students looked over to their uninvited audience did Ino shake her head again and walk at double pace towards the gates. She spared one more glance at the group, still feeling the pressure and heat from their eyes as they continued to stare at her before she vanished behind the cinderblocks that made up the wall.

* * *

Under her parents' belief that she was sleeping over at Sakura's for the night, Ino had left her house with neither Inoichi or Inoto seeing the sleeveless, silk like, thin-fabric purple top that hugged her bodacious chest and stomach; nor did they see the cream-tinted, three-quarter length pants that, much like her jeans earlier that day, looked like a second skin. Then again, it wasn't a complete lie. Sakura had given Ino permission to stay the night at her house if she felt that there was no way the blonde would make it home. Even though the pair of young women were just going out like any other ordinary night, Ino couldn't help but smile with content as she mentally planned out the general rota for the night's festivities.

'_Start conversation. Conversation turns to Sasuke-kun. We argue for four minutes over who's better for him. Agree to buy each other a drink and put the argument aside. Mock other people while having said drink. Repeat.'_ The thought remained floating around the confines of Ino's mind as she approached the city centre fifteen minutes later. Shops lined both sides of the street she currently found herself on, the out of hours lighting illuminating enough of the botanical setup that ran straight through the length of the avenue to avoid any accidental collision. She didn't have to focus all her concentration on her human surroundings, either; the slowly increasing concentration of partygoers around her was enough to tell her that she was getting closer to her destination. She quickly righted her small, purple-sequined purse to hang from her right shoulder as each step brought her ever closer to her night of enjoyment. She heard a rapid tapping of heels against the stone sidewalk behind her and inquisitively turned around to see the vivid head of waving pink-hair that had stolen her seat next to Sasuke that morning.

Sakura had a pleasant smile upon her unblemished features, most likely sharing the same optimism for the night ahead as her blonde counterpart. The pinkette's outfit consisted of a pink (what else?), thin-strapped one-piece blouse whose hem ended wide and frilled around her knees. A red, faux-leather belt about one hand wide was wrapped tight around her midsection, further emphasising her hourglass figure. Ino returned the lipstick bordered smile her friend sent her way before being beaten to a greeting.

"How are you doing?" Sakura added a helium-like inflection in an attempt to punctuate her question more than a question mark could ever do. Before Ino could even reply, she was enveloped in a close hug that spoke like a union between friends who hadn't seen each other in years. The former was true, the latter was not; and that was why Ino was surprised…and also mildly freaked out.

"I'm great!" Ino said loudly, forgetting how close Sakura's ear was to her mouth. They pulled back and shared a quick look before the blonde spoke up again, "So, you ready to have some fun?" Sakura simply nodded, widening her grin. And without another word, the pair walked arm in arm to the Sixty-Four Palms.

The club itself was massive. It was a two story, white plaster building shaped like a simple cuboid. Behind the entrance doors was a wide, twenty metre long carpeted corridor. The ceiling of which had embedded lighting and the walls had evenly set frames that held posters pertaining to the entertainment business: upcoming concerts, special nights at the club itself, drinks offers. At its end, the corridor widened out into a foyer lit by a fake chandelier with bars to both the left and right, chock full of spirits, liquors, lagers, ciders and sodas for patrons with different tastes. The entrance to the actual dance floor consisted of four sets of double doors, beyond which was a fifty-by-fifty metre polished hardwood floor, and beyond that was a raised platform, roughly two metres high, for a DJ and some hired dancers. So soundproof was the building that the noise coming from the dance floor couldn't be heard until one was nearly halfway down the entrance corridor.

The foyer on the ground floor also had two staircases on both sides that led to and identical area on the floor above it. The same bars were in place, as were the same sets of doors. If somebody were to use an elevator, it would feel like the machine had moved, but the doors opened to reveal the same scene. It was for this reason, i.e. the potential for drunken freak-outs, that an elevator was never installed. The only difference was that the first floor had no proper dance floor beyond the doors. Instead, it consisted of a single large parapet that extended out for roughly seven metres from the wall and covered the front and side walls, leaving the far wall reserved for performers clear. This oversized balcony gave a marvellous aboveground view of the stage and the dance floor below.

Because of the sheer size and popularity of the establishment, there was an entrance fee, enforced by the four small, single-person barrier-joined booths. The bouncers were the first level of security outside, and the booths inside made sure people had the cash to actually get in.

Five minutes later, the dangerous duo were presenting themselves to the two bouncers that guarded one of the three sets of double doors that allowed entrance to the amazingly popular club. Sakura was smiling sweetly up to the bald man who stood at least a foot-and-a-half above her whilst simultaneously twirling her hair through her fingers, giving him a front row seat of her lips and beautifully lined and glistening white teeth. Ino had played the same kind of game, but exploited the low cut front of her top to fool the bouncer into looking. And once he did…let's just say the game was won. As the bouncer gave in and waved Ino through with a nod of his head, he quickly wore a look of underlying comedic roots. He looked like he wanted to laugh, but his tightened lips had narrowly hidden it. His partner, the one who had also let Sakura through, looked across; and they both shared a look that said they knew something the two girls didn't.

As they passed through the tollbooths, the terrible two stopped off to the side of the corridor to put away the change from their tickets. Ino looked up and suddenly noticed something that their pleasure enveloped mind had missed out on, the thing that the bouncers had smirked at behind their backs.

Everybody else was dressed in some form of black. Patterned t-shirts, baggy slacks with rings and chains, and heavy looking GI-like boots…all suddenly seemed to be acceptable in the club dress code.

Sakura saw Ino freeze and quickly saw her scanning the other patrons who began to practically run down the corridor and to the bars. She too noted the lack of any vivid colours, and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She turned her head to look back at the blonde, whose face had confusion written all over it.

"Ino," Sakura began in a low, sceptical tone, "Is there something you're not telling me?" Ino shook her head without making eye contact, which only sought to get a hardening gaze from Sakura. Sakura's answer sat right in front of her face as she turned back to face the wall on the other side of the corridor, and her face immediately fell into one of disbelief. The first large A1 sized frame held a poster:

Sixty-Four Palms

presents

_**METAL MASSACRE **_

**Skin-Cutting Shredders! Finger-Shearing Thrashers! Ear-Rupturing Riffers! A collection of the region's best up and coming talent!**

**Friday the 12****th****, 9:00pm – 2:00am**

The poster's text was placed over a generic and stereotypical image of a longhaired, sweat-covered guitarist appearing to be half way through a headbang. Sakura slowly and rather creepily turned back to face Ino, only to be met by a look of incredulity that equally mirrored hers.

"Ino." The pinkette let out a harsh tone that drew out her soon-to-be-dead-friend's name. Ino's surprise hadn't yet settled, and that was reflected within her response.

"What?" The blonde securely shot back. For her troubles, Ino received a short push on her left shoulder.

"Are you telling me I got all dressed up for a night out with these…these…" Sakura desperately wanted to say something aloud in her anger, but she knew that the nearby metal fans would hear her and start a one-sided confrontation. As a result, the pink-haired girl forced herself to restart the rant.

"A _metal_ night, Ino? What the hell? Did you even _bother_ to look ahead and see what was happening tonight?" Ino frowned at Sakura's shift of 100-percent of the blame.

"Well _excuse_ me! I haven't been here in months, _forehead_! How was I supposed to know this was going to happen?" Ino pointed back to the corridor, ignoring the few gazes that were flung her way. Sakura huffed through her nostrils.

"_You _were the one who asked if I wanted to come in the first place, so _you_ should have done the research!" Sakura poked a lithe finger at Ino's collarbone with some slight force. Ino sighed and brought a hand up to her forehead.

"Look, I know that they have some of these themed nights every few months; but I just thought it was going to be like normal. I mean come on, forehead, what were the odds that I'd pick this night?" Sakura shook her head, not happy in the slightest.

"It's too late to talk about odds now," the pinkette sighed and looked back towards the entrance, now the exit to her. Ino saw the look of want in her eyes, the want to escape and head home in a depressed slump, the type that would only be quelled by a pint of ice cream. Without a thought, she snatched Sakura's arm and forced their gazes back to each other's eyes. This was one of those times when Ino's confidence outshone that of Sakura's. While there were some situations that brought out Sakura's shy side, it would take three times of a more embarrassing scenario to similarly effect Ino. After all, the only things that had changed for these once-in-a-blue-moon dos were the dress code and music genre. It didn't mean that they couldn't still have a few drinks and have at least some fun. That uncaring look was what Sakura saw as they stared at each other for a second before anything was said.

"Ah, ah, ah", the blonde quickly interjected, "I _paid_ to get in here, and I'm damn well going to try and enjoy myself! And I'll be damned if I do it on my own!" She tried to pull Sakura along as she forced all the worries out of her head and began her defiant trek down the corridor. Unfortunately, a steadfast resistance from the arm in her grasp stopped her in her tracks, forcing her to turn back and see a look on Sakura's face that clearly acted as a window to the cogs turning in her head. Yes, she had paid to get in just like Ino, but both the music and fellow patrons had started to drown her will to continue.

"I don't know," Sakura whined in a meagre tone, "I just don't think I'll enjoy myself. I don't see the point in staying and listening to music I hate." A lightbulb suddenly pinged on in Ino's head.

"Well, you know, we don't _have_ to go into the main area. We can find a table by a bar and talk." Ino's eyes softened as a means of pleading for her friend to stay. Sakura noted the look, it consisted of almost fully open eyelids and eyebrows crinkled upward…a perfect guilt trip inducing face. Sakura rolled her eyes and gently coaxed her arm from Ino's grasp.

"Alright, you've got an hour to make me not regret my decision to not leave, and then I'm out of here. Got it?" Ino smiled and led the way down the red-carpeted and gold-walled corridor, forcing Sakura to follow so as not to be split up. The parents of both girls had constantly reinforced the order to their respective daughter that they were to _always_ stick with their company. Nighttime Konoha in the late hours got dangerous for people walking around on their lonesome; it was by no means a crime-laden city, but nothing could ever be predicted, and that especially applied to street crawlers looking for what could only be referred to as their 'prey'.

As the duo somewhat cautiously walked into the ground floor foyer, they were greeted with the saving sight of other patrons at the bars who had dressed up more conventionally, the only black on one girl being their stilettos. Sakura's shoulders visibly lowered as she exhaled a sigh of relief. Although there were only a small number of these people, it was still a forgiving image. The two girls looked at each other, one flashed a big uplifting smile while the other merely raised the corners of their lips as a sign of nervousness at the events to come.

* * *

Forty-five minutes had gone by, and the two girls were sitting rather dejectedly in a small booth near one of the first floor bars. Ino was gliding the fingers of her left hand up and down her glass of Chardonnay, as if trying to caress the beverage into phasing out of existence. Her right hand was palm up and supporting her sagging head, a head that held downwardly curved, pouting lips, a half-dead set of eyes, and a scrunched up nose.

The woman dressed exclusively in pink and red next to her had her hands lying flat on her lap, her head looking down at the table and staring at her slim glass of Gin-and-Tonic as if it were an alien. Both girls hadn't said a word in three minutes, and they felt like the rough, low toned and gut-heaving excuse for music that boomed from the balcony area was reading their minds and reflecting their moods.

"I guess the music's an acquired taste." Ino spoke up just loud enough for her voice to carry over the shrill guitar echoes and monstrous vocals. Sakura simply looked over with a glare of mild hatred. Why, oh why did she let herself get dragged into this state of coma inducing boredom?

Ino was contemplating something in her mind, but the simple fact that her company was not the easiest person to be swayed stopped her from taking any action. She had fifteen minutes to make sure Sakura had some fun; but with the current environment and ambience…she'd need a miracle.

'_Sod it'_, her mind's voice burst out and kick started her body's motor functions. Sakura was only aware that she had been pulled out of the booth and straight towards the parapet doors when she felt a foreign presence on her arm.

"Last resort, Sakura." 'Sakura', the moment her friend had said her name so sternly told her that Ino was not letting go and was forcing her into a less than desirable situation. In that moment, she knew two things: The first was that nothing she could say or do would stop Ino from dragging her into the source of the (in her opinion) awful music. The second was that she'd be leaving the moment her small wristwatch's second hand marked the start of the fifteenth minute of the twenty-second hour of the day.

By some coincidence, the music had died into nothing once the two young women were stepping onto the fuzzy carpeting of the first floor balcony. In replacement of the music, the packed dance area both around and below them erupted with cheers, cheers mostly emphasised with curse words. The parapet was so full that neither girl could see the far wall that sat behind the main staging area. Ino frowned and once again forcefully dragged Sakura behind her like a four-year-old would drag their teddy behind them in the house. Ino's attitude suddenly seemed to pay off in this environment as she unremorsefully barged through the sweat-laced, over-deodorised patrons. Her sudden worry about losing Sakura in amongst the torrent of bodies unconsciously made her grasp the pinkette's wrist harder than a vice. Sakura felt the pain, but she was grateful that Ino was concerned enough to keep them together. The cheers died after a minute, bringing calm to the patrons and allowing the girls an easier passage. Silence, bar the residual and unintelligible chatter around the vast hall, came over everything as it sounded like the next act was preparing to start their set. The lighting had also intensified to allow people to find their way around in case they wanted to get another drink or simply move to a better location. Ino's bashful attitude to get an eyeful of the stage brought her to the right hand wall and up against the stomach-high railing.

The view was quite surprising. Below them, the dance floor was utterly crowded; neither girl could see any of the polished wood for black shoes, baggy pants and wild hairstyles. Glow sticks hung around necks and flew over peoples' heads like fireflies on speed, giving some appreciated illumination to those in need of it. Unlike on a conventional night at the Sixty-Four Palms, the stage area took up three-quarters of the width of the far wall and extended out for approximately ten metres. It allowed plenty of space for performers to move around; bar the drummer as they were expected to remain seated for most of the performance, not to mention the drum set itself was raised slightly higher than the rest of the platform. Why was anybody's guess; maybe it was to carry the sound of the drums when they were hit, therefore adding more emphasis to the power of the tune? Just in front of the stage was a basic chest high metal barrier, covered every two metres by a bouncer or independently hired steward. It came as no surprise; metal fans were renowned as one of the more likely types to try something stupid…or so Ino had once heard. There was a multitude of equipment staggered all around the stage, from microphone stands to amplifiers, a keyboard idly sat on a stand next to the drum set, which itself was full of different types of percussive instruments. Cymbals crowned the mid and low tom toms, which themselves sat either on top of or next to the two large bass drums. From their position, the girls would be able to see the entirety of the stage, including the drummer's seat, meaning they'd fully see whoever was going to go on a stereotypical drum smashing rampage.

Without warning, the entire hall was enveloped in black as the lights died. Excited gasps and a few screams of anticipation echoed around the large room before the clicking sound of an activating microphone could be heard from the roof where the tannoi speakers were located.

"_Alright ladies and gentlemen!" _A hyperactive voice yelled out over the stereo system, getting a roar of support from the crowd…bar the two girls who suddenly felt way out of their depth. The girls nervously looked at each other, their eyes doing all the talking. The announcer continued, eagerness smothering his tone,_ "Presenting themselves for their second appearance here at the Sixty-Four Palms, is a band labelled as a 'one to watch' by the Leaf Standard newspaper. Combining beastly growls and heavenly clean vocals, hundred-mile-an-hour drums, and string-melting guitar riffs… it's the one, the only…Rasen…Shuriken!"_ The man on the mic screamed the name as way of riling up the patrons…and it worked. Again, the crowd erupted, backing their cheers by stomping the floor and waving their glow sticks like jacked up stockbrokers.

Aside from the slightly annoying glow sticks below, nobody could see anything on the stage at all. Just as people started to get suspicious, two longer-than-standard glow sticks formed an 'X' shape near the back of the stage, although from the balcony's angle, the shape looked distorted. If the girls' memories had served them correctly, they'd have to say they were located near the drum set. The sticks were brought apart and briefly twirled between some unidentifiable hands like a marching band baton before the stick on the left (performer's right hand) was brought up to hover over an object.

**(A/N: I advise you listen to the track to get a feel of immersion. It also means I don't have to waste typing time by describing the whole song. Song = Sanctity of Brothers by Unearth)**

With a pause of a few seconds, the stick was brought back and made the first light hit on what sounded like a crash symbol in what was to become to counting in momentum. The speed was quite fast, roughly 5 hits per second, which rounded up to 300 beats per minute. The stick left a small afterimage of light blue as it was quickly brought down and back up on every hit of the cymbal. The eighth beat had been made, and as soon as it came down for the ninth, the dual guitars and bass fired off a single heavy note. The cymbal was immediately silenced and paved the way for the rhythm guitar to play a short riff. Upon its repeat, the drummer four-counted back in and joined in on the single guitar with a heavy use of snare, toms and bass drums before the instruments erupted in unison at the end of the repeat. The glow sticks made an erratic but ironically beautiful dance as the drummer rapidly changed between the drums before returning to a standard position at the loose hi-hat and snare.

As soon as the whole band joined in, the vocalist had made a single scream that marked the signal for a single flash of a strobe light. Within the tenth-of-a-second that the stage had been illuminated, the girls could make out a man directly front and centre of the stage, a microphone held up to his mouth. To his right (everybody else's left) stood two guitarists, with a third on the opposite side. The drummer was also there, in position behind the vocalist on the raised platform. Unfortunately, it had happened too fast to make out any distinct features. The sudden explosion of instruments fired off the crowd into screaming and jumping like kangaroos on meth…all except Sakura and Ino, who both had a single eyebrow raised in bedazzlement, bedazzlement at how people could actually _like_ this sort of music. Then again, they had only heard the first few seconds, so it would have been unfair to make opinions off that. The same riff from the intro repeated again before the vocalist kicked into the song.

**A west side run through  
One string away from taking the lead  
We stalked the streets at night,  
To live, to feel, to breath **

Sadly, the tone-deaf screaming of the vocalist only served to further discourage the two girls as the base riff repeated at the verse's ending.

**Bring back those days of gold,  
When the torch was ours to bear  
A troubled youth to some,  
To us a crown to wear**

The darkness over the stage had lifted slightly, and the luminescent glow of the drummer's sticks created a hypnotising display for all who laid their eyes upon it. They could just make out the people's movements across the stage, it was likely that they needed the small amount of light in order to see what drums they were hitting and what strings they were strumming. Everybody could see from the sheer speed that the sticks were moving that the drummer was a man of exceptional skill.

**I see a time, a santity of brothers  
We knew another world**

A second voice on a higher octave repeated some of the words of the chorus, immediately informing the crowd that the band, in fact, had two vocalists. As the band played the bridge for the second verse, the strobe lights activated and looped on numerous flashes a second. Eventually, everybody on the stage became clearer, but the tricks that the strobes played on everybodies eyes meant that it looked like quick flashes of many different stills.

**We knew another world  
****We knew another**

**A west side horror  
A torch burned out before his own time  
We closed our eyes at night,  
To hurt, to heal, to breath **

To both girls, it sounded like the vocalists voice box had been run over by a cheese grater…ten times. They couldn't see the appeal of lyrics that were screamed rather than sung, and Sakura was doing her best to keep her hands away from her ears.

**Bring back those days of gold,  
When the torch was ours to bear  
A troubled youth to some,  
To us a crown to wear  
**

**I see a time, a santity of brothers  
We knew another world**

**Bring us back to the days**

The strobes slowed down to one flash for every snare hit, but immediately picked back up as the final verse played out.

**Bring us back to our age of innocence  
Our time to live forever  
Our worlds will meet again**

The crowd continued their headbanging and uncontrollable jumping as the outro began, paving the way for a unbelievably fast tempo from the drummer, sticks all but a blur for everybody watching. The song quickly died down to single strums and drawn out notes, and then opened back up into a final outro riff and a small drum solo before the hall fell into silence with a crash of cymbals and deep but heavy guitar strums. The crowd's volume increased with screams of praise and cheers as well as few glow sticks landing on the stage, fortunately missing the performers. Once again, the hall was enveloped in darkness, but the stage lights finally kicked into a permanent on state that illuminated the platform as the drummer opened up a a slower eight-count that landed at four beats per second, which equated to 240 beats per minute.

**(A/N: Song = Rolling Chances by Raintime. I advise you pause after the intro, because there's a bit of descriptive writing here before the lyrics come up.)**

As the guitars joined in, the girls and everybody else finally had a good look at the band members, as well as the two new additions to the group. Somebody now manned the keyboard to the side of the drum set as they played through the intro and added some extra harmony amongst the heavy distorted guitars. And a second person holding a microphone stood almost directly behind the drummer as they played in with the guitarists themselves were split on either side of the stage. The bassist, a man with long, dark brown hair that stopped in the middle of his back was strumming side by side with one of the lead guitarists. Their fellow string player was on the other side of the stage and joining in with the intro. Ino suddenly noticed something about the two main guitarists; their chests stuck out more than the bassist's.

She had pegged it the moment she saw the two mounds underneath their black patterned t-shirts. The lead and rhythm guitarists were female. One had light brown hair that came down to between her shoulder blades, and the other had sandy blonde hair that went just a little lower, but not as low as the bassist's. The faces of both the bassist and this brown haired woman looked awfully familiar to her, but at that moment in time she couldn't put her finger on it. The female presence came as a big surprise to Ino, and she felt a small sense of empowerment that two of the most important parts of the band were filled by women. She turned to the side and called this out to Sakura, but she wasn't sure she heard it as the pink haired girl simply nodded her head with an empty smile. The blonde looked back to the front of the stage and saw the vocalist from the first song. He had short black hair, and the lower half of his face was covered by what looked like surgical bandages. It was too soon for Ino to start asking why, but she thought it to be a strange addition to his wardrobe. The other vocalist behind the drummer had long dark brown hair that almost mimicked the bassist. He had a clean shaven face that looked eerily androgynous.

And that was when she saw the drummer.

His hair was a shade of bright and blinding blonde, moreso than the guitarist, but it hung just so that it covered the sides of his head and some of his face. He wore a simple black vest that mirrored that of the masked vocalist that showed his non-bulky but well toned arms to the light, his sweat giving his skin a small glistening sheen. And then he snapped his head back as he rapped repeatedly against the snare drum as the keyboard beside him played small melody before the song kicked off again. His hair flew back, and revealed his face to the ceiling and gave the girls a clear view. His eyes may have been closed…but those whisker marks were unmistakeably unique to one person. Ino's eyes shot open, watching with an open mouth as she saw one of her homeroom classmates return to hitting the hi-hat and snare with added fervour. He opened his eyes and pulled a face of utmost concentration through his own minor head banging, looking over to the guitarists that now stood in front of his platform as they followed his tempo. Ino was gobsmacked, she couldn't begin to describe the wave of surprise that had washed over her and wiped her mind in the process, she was so taken in by the look of ferocity about Naruto's person that she didn't feel Sakura poking her in the side until the poke became a hard elbow.

Ino looked over and saw Sakura's look of concern, evidently saying she hadn't seen Naruto's face yet, and leant forward to practically shout into Sakura's ear.

"Look at the drummer!" This time Sakura had heard what Ino said and followed Ino's extended arm and pointing finger to look at the waving blonde locks of the class idiot and the passion his face displayed as he made every hit look like the drum set was an extension of his own body. At that moment, Sakura's face became exactly like Ino's as she froze at seeing her fellow classmate on the stage.

Naruto had quickly shot a smile to the keyboardist next to him even as he continued to hit the drums with everything he had, and that was when the girls saw a stout young man with short…red…hair…and black eyeliner around his pale green eyes. The boy in question met Naruto's eyes but still showed almost no emotion bar a flicker of the corners of his mouth. The girls looked at each other and let their hanging mouths quickly form into a disbelieving grin. They both wanted to laugh. Hard. But they were still too shocked by the new revelation as they watched _two_ of their classmates play along to the heavy guitars. And then the masked vocalist finally came in.

**Once again I've breathed the fire  
Awaking inside those feelings  
That won't go!  
I've sensed this before**

**Another weak and cruel desire**  
**Bothering me and it won't leave me alone!**  
**I won't pay this toll**

The second vocalist had since moved from behind Naruto to join his partner in (almost literal) vocal crime. He brought his own mic up to his lips and opened the chorus.

**I always felt that this could be  
A good chance for me to see  
If I could fit into a world  
That moves**

**I feel so strange and so deranged  
****One other chance flew by  
To solve my shit I only need a try  
I am so stressed and so depressed  
'Cause I keep hiding from  
A thing that could be a new dawn****  
**

**I gonna try to see if I**  
**Can make up my mind and live this crazy show!**  
**I will need it all**  
**All the strength and will that I**  
**Will gather from my trembling little soul!**  
**I will need it all!**

**I always felt that this could be  
A good chance for me to see  
If I could fit into a world  
That moves**

The blonde guitarist began a small harmonic solo that proceeded into a small keyboard solo by Gaara with Naruto emphasising his notes with the bass drum and cymbals. Gaara continued the same tune while the drums came back gently with added guitars before exploding into a synchro climax with both lead guitarists standing next to each other and playing on different octaves as the bassist stood off to the side. The keyboard came back in once more time before the younger looking vocalist played the last repeat of the chorus.

**I always felt that this could be  
A good chance for me to see  
If I could fit into a world  
That moves**

**That moves**

As the song came to its outro, Naruto smacked the cymbals, snare and bass drum hard in a last moment show of rhythmic passion. With a final pinch harmonic from the brown haired guitarist, the song ended and elicited more screams from the crowd on both floors. Sakura and Ino, on the other hand, were completely silent, struck by admirable shock.

"Thank you", the masked vocalist said into his mic, raising his hand to the torrent of cheers before him. His voice was deep and rather intimidating, despite the fact it sounded like he was completely calm. He turned to face the rear wall but kept talking, "I think we've got time for one more before the management kicks us out for being too awesome…" that statement got a few whoops and screams from girls mixed in the crowd, "…and…what's this? Looks like our drummer wants to say something." The masked man had caught Naruto waving his hand at him in a 'come hither' motion. Instead of moving over, the man simply tossed his mic over the drum set, allowing it to safely land in Naruto's hands with a loud thud that came over the speakers. Naruto stood up from his stool and leaned over the cymbals.

"Hi there", Naruto simply said as if beginning a normal discussion. A few more whistles came from the crowd, while on the balcony Ino and Sakura were stood there wide eyed with funny smiles that displayed their confusion, but also a slight sense of admiration as they were shown a new side to the idiot that everybody found annoying.

"Er, yeah. I have a question for everybody. Nothing heavy, I just wanna know, are you all having fun?" The response was a lighter wave of shouting and whistling, but the girls could make out a frown on Naruto's face. For some reason, he didn't seem pleased. He leant forward more and bellowed into the mic.

"I CAN'T FUCKING HEAR YOU!" The effect was immediate. The crowd responded at least thrice as loud as the first time. Ino and Sakura looked back at each other with mouths agape in shock. And at that moment, they finally laughed. It was a laugh composed of slight mockery, genuine humour and amazement at their classmate's boldness. Naruto nodded his head towards the crowd in appreciation.

"That's better!" Just as everybody cooled down again and Naruto was about to relieve himself of the microphone, a woman's voice could be heard over everybody else from the other side of the parapet.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Everybody shut up a second. What was that? Up there, what did you say?" Naruto pointed his finger towards the source of the scream and pushed his ear forward as the rest of the audience quietened down.

"Take it off!" The voice was quite clear and got a few shouts of support as everybody looked back to Naruto, who looked down at his vest and grabbed a piece of it.

"What? This?" His answer came in the form of more screams. He looked down to the stage to see the bassist and brown haired rhythm guitarist clapping at him in further encouragement, and then looked over to the side and saw Gaara smirking at him with his arms folded.

"Guess it can't be helped." He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders before lobbing the mic back at the masked vocalist. He turned his back to the crowd and quickly relieved himself of his vest, making the female members of the crowd cheerfully scream. He reach down to his side, unscrewed a full bottle of mineral water and tipped what must have been at least half of its contents over his head, letting some of it stick in his hair while a minature waterfall crept down the dip between his trapezoids and the muscles surrounding his spine and adding further shine to his tanned skin as it mingled with his sweat. He turned back around, revealing his toned chest and almost six-pack covered stomach. At that moment, Ino's wide eyes glazed over and her mind tried to suppress a nosebleed at such a sight, she saw every muscle move fluidly around each other as he shifted his torso back to a comfortable position on his stool and reached for the sticks he had placed over the snare drum. Sakura, meanwhile, simply stood silent. Her mind was paralyzed from such an unexpected sight, she had no idea Naruto looked so…animalistically hot. Sure, she would pick Sasuke any day, but just seeing Naruto's body in such pristine condition knocked her brain out of the ball park in terms of expectations.

"Alright," the lead vocalist began, "This'll be our last one of the night, so I want you all to make some noise with us!" The man walked next to the drum set just as Naruto was shaking his head to free himself from excess water, lest it drip down his face and throw off his rhythm. Naruto nodded at him and then looked over at Gaara. He took position at his keyboard and began playing a virtual string track.

**(A/N: Song = The Illusionist by Scar Symmetry)**

Within seconds a guitar had kicked in with a grind and was quickly followed by a steady drum rhythm, the second six-string and the bass. After the second play through, there was a quick drum solo from Naruto, the growling began.

**As an outcast I faced defeat  
Seeking comfort in this painful retreat  
Made an oracle against my will  
Word spread of miraculous skills**

Ino was surprised that Naruto could keep all his limbs in check throughout the verse, as the bass drums were clicking on and off numerous times with almost no relation to the snare or hi-hat.

**Premonitions call my name  
I once doubted them all when they came  
Now I embrace it and I'll never be the same  
**

For once, the masked vocalist had sung in a surprisingly clean tone, and Sakura was amazed that he actually had a sense of tuning. For added effect, the other vocalist added a quiter but higher octave choral track.

**Transfixed in the desert sands  
Take a look at my once empty hand  
See the rose that appears so real  
Just like the one you saw in your dreams**

**Those who call me avatar**  
**Knows not what they're looking for**  
**They just feed their flames with miracles**  
**Just so you know**  
**If you bathe within my light**  
**You diminish your own might**  
**The illusionist in everyone**

For both girls, it sounded quite awkward to have such harmonic vocals in amongst deep growls, heavy guitars and fast tempo drums. Nevertheless, Ino found that the amalgamation worked in a strange way.

**As an outcast I faced defeat  
Seeking comfort in this painful retreat  
Made an oracle against my will  
Word spread of miraculous skills**

**Premonitions call my name**  
**I once doubted them all when they came**  
**Now I embrace it and I'll never be the same**

**Those who call me avatar**  
**Knows not what they're looking for**  
**They just feed their flames with miracles**  
**Just so you know**  
**If you bathe within my light**  
**You diminish your own might**  
**The illusionist in everyone**

From their angle above the stage, the girls saw how hard Naruto's legs were working on the double bass to keep in the triple and quadruple hits that sometimes ran out of sync with his arms. To get to such a level, they both figured that he must have been playing for years. The first solo was played by the brown haired woman whose face Ino still couldn't identify. The same situation went for the bassist as well. He looked so familiar, but not at the same time.

**What I say and what I do was once potential  
Sprung from the infinite place that dictates the seen  
**

The blonde took the lead for the second solo, while her counterpart played the backing rhythm with the bassist playing a layer underneath her. The crowd cheered as the woman smiled to the audience, letting her fingers do the musical aspect of the talking.

**Those who call me avatar  
Knows not what they're looking for  
They just feed their flames with miracles  
Just so you know  
If you bathe within my light  
You diminish your own might  
The illusionist in everyone  
**

**Those who call me avatar  
Knows not what they're looking for  
They just feed their flames with miracles  
Just so you know  
If you bathe within my light  
You diminish your own might  
The illusionist in everyone  
**

Sakura looked over and quickly gawked in disbelief as she watched Ino's head lightly bounce up and down during the final chorus repeat. Ino, meanwhile, was enjoying the power of the higher reinforcing vocal level too much to care about her actions. In matter of fact, the fast beat combined with the clean vocals stirred something inside her, something that likely needed an event such as this to awaken it.

**In everyone!**

After the final growl, the band continued for a few more seconds before ending on a powerful triple-strum note emphasised by the crash cymbal. And just as the vocalist had suggested, everybody began jumping in exasperation and excitement as the band stood up and calmly received the cheers and whistles. Sakura began clapping above her head with a gentle smile, whereas Ino couldn't help but left off a supportive whoop.

She had needed a miracle to make the night enjoyable…and _Naruto_ of all people had become that miracle. The masked man brought the mic up to his mouth once more.

"Thank you, everybody, you've been brilliant as always!" The following cheer of thanks was a good sign to all. "Let's meet the team. On clean vocals we have Momochi Haku." He pointed at the girly looking man stood next to him, who in turn politely bowed to the front. He looked to the two brown haired people to his right.

"On the bass, Hyuuga Neji!" The man kept one hand on the neck of his four-string bass and performed a 'bull horn' sign at the crowd with the other. Ino slapped herself in her mind. The face was right on the tip of her tongue, but she had been concentrating on Naruto and Gaara too much to bother finding out.

"On rhythm guitar, Kamezura Tenten!" Tenten smiled and waved. This time, Ino physically slapped her forehead. She could have easily identified the woman if her hair wasn't let down and waving about from her playing. Again, she had a recognisable face, but Ino's concentration got the better of her. Sakura gaped at the band members. Not only were two of her classmates in this 'one to watch' band, two students in the year above them were as well, and they were a couple to top it all off. The vocalist looked to his left and pointed at the sandy haired blonde, who Ino noticed was getting some looks from Gaara.

"Lead guitar is the one and only Temari!" Yet more whistles ensued as the woman played a quick ten note solo.

"On keyboard is her brother, Gaara!" The man pointed at the red haired young man, who simply folded his arms and nodded to the people before him.

"On drums, our resident sugar addict, Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto followed up with a comical 'badoom-chhhh' from the drum set, much like that from a talk show when a joke's punchline was told. Both Ino and Sakura looked at each other and shook their heads with a small chuckle of embarrassment. Finally the man looked back to the audience and placed a hand on his chest.

"I'm Momochi Zabuza, and we've been RasenShuriken. Goodnight!" The lights quickly blacked out again, leaving the crowd to listen to their own cheers. After ten seconds, the stage was relit only for everybody to find it totally devoid of the people who had manned it not ten seconds before. Even the vest that Naruto had earlier discarded was no longer there. Sakura shook her head once again before looking down at her watch.

It read 10:18, which got the pinkette to laugh at the irony.

She tapped Ino on the shoulder finally knocking the blonde out of her small bout of Naruto-induced hypnosis and nodded her head back to the exit. Ino understood her meaning and nodded understandingly with a gentle smile. They took each other's arm and headed back towards the balcony exit to make their way out of the building and back to Sakura's house. As they went through the doors and made their way down the stairs to the ground floor foyer, they both realised that none of the band members that knew their faces had noticed them. The most likely reason was that they were just two more fans that were there to listen to the music, their presence was nothing that should have been exclusively noted.

As the cool night air touched their faces as they walked out, earning some appreciative stares from the bouncers still stood there, they both had the same thought without saying a word to each other.

School on Monday morning was going to be interesting.

* * *

**A/N: Wow! That's the longest chapter I've written to date for any story. So here we are, this is a new thing I started writing ever since I thought my other Naruto fic, 'Shattered Masks and Broken Hearts' was going to die. I thought this would be a cool setting because I love having shocked reactions to things that people never knew about a character. it makes the moment seem more awesome.**

**I hope I got the whole high school system right. I did a bit of research to make sure I didn't make it look like I knew nothing...which, in all honesty, I really don't XD. Being English and all, I'm not sure how the whole secondary school system works in the US. Speaking of the US, I used dollars as the currency for the sake of not having to do Ryou-Yen or Ryou-Dollar exchanges...despite the fact that Ryou is a Naruto world-only currency and doesn't really exist.**

**Anyway, in regards to the metal songs I used, I hope you listened to them as you read. As I mentioned, it gives you a sense of immersion. If you don't like the artists used, or you have suggestions, then don't be afried to PM or put your thoughts in a review. I know 'RasenShuriken' is probably not the best name, but I figured that the fluidity of a spiral combined with the deadliness of a shuriken gave the band a sort of dangerous sounding name. Meh, if you don't like it, live with it.**

**As for pairings. I may have written Sakura a little funny, but she's not going to be involved in any way. I'm making her the standard Sasuke's bitch character. And as for Tenten and Karin's surnames...I just thought of things at random. Also, I gave Haku Zabuza's surname for reasons that'll be explained later on in the story.**

**PLEASE R&R! IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU'VE SEEN THEN ADD THIS TO YOUR ALERT LIST! FAVE IT IF YOU LIKE IT THAT MUCH! I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE REVIEWS TO SEE HOW I'M DOING AS WELL!**

**FINAL DISCLAIMER: I OWN NONE OF THE SONGS FEATURED IN THIS CHAPTER. ALL SONG CONTENT BELONGS TO UNEARTH, RAINTIME AND SCAR SYMMETRY RESPECTIVELY, AS WELL AS THEIR RESPECTIVE RECORD LABELS AND STUDIOS.**


	2. Questions

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I still don't own Naruto. If I did, Naruto would have a girlfriend already, and Sasuke would be dead.**

**So here we are guys, chapter 2. It only took me a few days to write, but I've been UNBELIEVABLY busy with university, so I took what little free time I have been graced with and decided to update what is, most likely, my most popular fic, despite the the fact it's only got one chapter. Well...two now, but you get my drift.**

**Just something else I want people to understand: The legal age for drinking and consent in this fic is 18 (a la the UK). It makes things a little easier and doesn't make Ino and Sakura's bar-crawling sneakiness all that serious, since they're both under by only a few months.**

**Previously on 'Face The Music': Ino and Sakura now know something new about the primary idiot of their class. Only two questions now stand: What will happen to the girls' initial opinions of him? And what will happen on the next day of school, when they face him again?**

* * *

**Face The Music**

**A Naruto Fan Fiction**

**Chapter 2: Questions**

******Friday 12th - **Sixty-Four Palms Night Club; Backstage Loading Area – 22:27 hrs

Beauty comes in many forms: visual, intellectual, artistic, physical…and yet what could be defined as beauty by one figure is an entity that becomes a disgrace to another. It was a sad thought, that human evolution brought about the birth of opinion and confliction of meaning; and yet it was an ironically sweet curse that many have seen and shouldered the hate of others, all whilst their internal harmony was too overpowering for them to bother with anything occurring outside their personal four walls. The best example of this, in the present day, was in a dimly lit alley behind the gargantuan building that housed the dull racket of rattling strings and the low click of bass drums.

Kamezura Tenten, in the eyes of Hyuuga Neji, was the personification of heaven, earth, the sun and the moon all combined into the most illustrious body and personality he had ever witnessed. Not even those pieces of plastic called 'supermodels', that did nothing but walk backwards and forwards on a platform wearing stupid clothing, could live up to what his girlfriend exhibited. With her hair up in those cute buns, she was dazzling; but once the lacquered chopsticks came out, allowing gravity to pull her chocolate brown strands over her neck, she was…perfect. Neji always liked reminding her of his opinion, and Tenten knew it; that would be why she was backed up against a cold and rough brick wall, pushing her lips further into a kiss of delectable passion with her admirer. Both of them always loved moments like these, in which they were alone to sieve through what the other felt.

But they didn't exactly appreciate it when certain sounds of mocking stomach lurching echoed a few metres down the alley in their direction.

"BLEGH!" That was the oh-so intelligent sounding voice of their blonde-haired school subordinate.

"URGH!" And it didn't make matters any better when the man who had brought their little group together joined in, too. Thus, the example of beauty's perception had hit its climax and quickly dissipated.

They paid no heed, though, keeping their lips joined after having not sampled one another for at least forty-five minutes. They could mock all they wanted, because while it was all in good fun, Neji and Tenten were the only people out of their ragtag group to actually have a significant other...at least as far as they were aware.

The two overhead lamps that shone two small yellow circles inside the alley barely helped the members of RasenShuriken see the inside of the Ford Transit Tourneo parked by the stage exit. They should have been grateful that their drummer hadn't brought his own equipment, packing it in would have taken a good twenty minutes and the majority of the space, otherwise. For this gig, three guitars and a keyboard was all that was necessary. The van was painted in a sky-blue hue with a square arrangement of four thick, wavy lines of navy stuck to the door that was presently retracted to allow access to the interior.

"Next time, I'm bringing my own snare." Naruto's hoarse complaint carried outward from inside the van, the walls of the vehicle giving his voice a tinny hum. He carefully placed a glossy-black Hudson PB4 Bass into a large, briefcase-esque carrier near the rear of the van, the foam filling of which was custom cut to the shape of the guitar in question. Naruto noted the odd design of the forward spire on its body, which he was sure would knock of the weight balance of the instrument. However, he knew better than to mess around with the marvelled feat of musical engineering, because Neji would rip his balls off, otherwise.

Carefully stepping back over a row of forward-folded seats, Naruto sighed as he stepped back out into the night air, feeling his damp skin cooling through his activity-induced sweat.

"That piece of shit they set up sounded like a flat trashcan lid. How the hell can I get a decent sound with just _two_ chains? My Tama set would have rattled that stage like a blender". He looked to his right to find a young woman with rough, sandy-blonde hair holding out an Ibanez RG420EG by its neck.

"Don't be such a nitpicker," Temari began as Naruto supported the guitar with both hands before removing it from her grasp, "at least you've only got to worry about hitting some drums at the right time." Naruto wanted to frown at that, drumming wasn't _just_ about smacking some artificial animal skin with a couple of wooden sticks, after all.

"Speaking of time…" Temari murmured before looking at the recently lip-locked couple walking hand-in-hand back towards them.

"Tenten, you were out during the 'Chances' duet, for a moment there I thought I'd end up finishing a whole second before you." Tenten caught her fellow player's smirk as her technique was criticised. The younger woman nonchalantly huffed through her nose.

"From where I was standing, you were playing too fast. I think you were trying to impress those guys at the barrier." Tenten's equally smug face was met with a look of passiveness.

"Ladies, ladies." Naruto butted in before revealing himself to his band mates once again, an honest smile written across his face. "We're all on the same team here. We're supposed to be supportive, not tear each other a new one right?"

Temari took a moment to stare at Naruto in bewilderment, while Tenten shot a questioning look over at Neji, who stood to her left. Naruto was certainly, as Zabuza had described on stage, the band's resident sugar addict. In their time together, he was the biggest joker, and the one who appeared to take everything a little less serious than the others. Once in a blue moon, he would break tradition and emerge with a wise and relevant quip. Accepting the notion, the two young women wordlessly agreed to drop the subject.

"Besides, I'm the drummer here. In my opinion, both of your timings were bad."

Oh dear…

The tension in the air became deafening; not even the nearby trashcan that appeared to topple over in mere shock of the sentence broke anybody's reveries. Seeing the bland expressions around him, Naruto's happy smile quickly flattened as he looked over the four people around him.

"What?"

Still no response.

With a light smack to his exposed forehead, Zabuza, who was stood by the passenger side front door of the van, looked at Neji. The bassist looked back over his shoulder, the minute and slanted smile on his face said everything: _'Hold on to your balls.'_

"Did he just go there?" Neji gave a short 'hm' in response, and closed his eyes.

"I do believe that he has gone there."

If there was one thing that RasenShuriken's male population knew _not _to do, it was to deliberately incite the wrath of the females. However, Naruto, being as generally ignorant as he was, was still in need of having the fine line between 'acceptable' and 'deliberately inciting wrath' made clear to him. The flat expression he quickly turned up told everyone that he _knew _that he had just goofed up badly. This, since their band had formed, would be incident number seven for the blonde knucklehead.

The sight that greeted Haku and Gaara as they exited the building was, strangely enough, almost standard for gig nights.

Both Temari and Tenten had their arms crossed and backs turned to Naruto, who lay battered on the ground by the van. Zabuza was laughing in mockery at said downed drummer, trying to get out a comment about 'being a plank head'. Neji, meanwhile, was shaking his head in his disappointment of being associated with such a dense teen.

"Wha…?" A light groan spawned from ground level as an arm reached up towards the sky, fingers quivering from the sudden beating. "Wha…di...I...oo…nah?" The only response came in the form of two harshly ejected 'harrumphs' that were undeniably female in tone.

"Nii-san, did Naruto-kun say something unnecessary again?" Zabuza's gaze shifted over to his younger brother, who approached him with a thin slip of paper in his hand.

"That's all we can expect from Naruto", Zabuza calmly replied. Taking the paper that was offered to him. Looking down at the figures written across the cheque, the bandaged singer's eyes gave away the tiny hints of a smile before pocketing the band's payment.

"You see, Naruto," Neji began, "If there's only one thing you can learn from a relationship, it's that the woman is always right and you should never tell them otherwise." Naruto briefly stumbled like a drunk as he found his feet before scoffing at the advice. He didn't miss the affirming nod that Tenten gave her boyfriend.

"You…are so whipped, Neji." The smirk that crossed the drummer's face was met with an unimpressed glare from Tenten. Neji, for what it was worth, simply held a smug smile.

"I'd rather be whipped than dead, my friend."

Leaving it at that, Naruto leant back against the van, sharply forcing his hands into his pockets.

"Now, now, Naruto." Said blonde looked over to his right, eyeing the lead guitarist once again and duly noting the weird leer that adorned her partially mucky and sweat-stained skin. Her voice was far from normal, and displayed none of the anger she exhibited not thirty seconds before. As a matter of fact, it sounded more…soft and…alluring. In Temari's case, hearing both of those traits was never a good sign.

"Don't look so down." Temari continued, all the while closing the gap between herself and Naruto; her smile growing as she caught his crooked eyebrows and the way he cautiously tried to inch his body away from hers. His attempted retreat was halted, however, as she gripped his arm with both hands and pulled his ear back towards her lips.

"Do you need some…_comforting_, perhaps?" The way her breath brushed over his ear was both tantalising and nerve-racking; the latter was mostly because Naruto noticed the brother of the woman clinging to his arm giving him a rather stoic glare.

"Naruto," Gaara calmly droned, "I have already informed you of the implications of attempting to court my sister without prior approval. Need I remind you again with a greater demonstration?" Naruto quickly and violently sputtered at Gaara's words, all the while trying to continually shuffle against the grip on his arm.

"WHAT? Gaara! Just look! She's the one who clung on to me! I didn't do anything!" Naruto pointed the finger of his free left hand at the now laughing Temari, who thankfully broke away. The remaining members joined in with a small chorus of chuckles before taking notice of their largest, and oldest, band mate.

"Alright guys, I've got the pay for the gig. I'll cash it tomorrow and give you your cuts next practice." Zabuza felt like he would never get over the sheer look of respect that the other musicians gave him as he spoke. It was like they all looked to him as a melodic messiah, someone who formed something great out of almost nothing. While that seemed to be the case, he had to be honest to himself in the knowledge that their little rag-tag group had a long way to go if they wanted to take the venture seriously.

"Speaking of which, when _are_ we meeting up next?" Temari asked, hands sitting idly on her hips. Quickly looking at a distant wall to gather his thoughts, he heard the broken muttering of how people were 'free whenever' or 'had stuff to do'.

"How's Sunday sound? I know it's pretty soon, but I'd say that we're close to finishing up 'Transition'. If we can get the sheets and lyrics over and done with, we can have a break before we get down to rehearsing." As Zabuza had noticed, Naruto always seemed to agree through his body language by casually shrugging his shoulders. It was like he had nothing better to do…ever…aside from school, that was.

"I told my parents I'd help out at the store in the morning that day. Could we make it for the afternoon?" Tenten looked at first to Zabuza, then back at Naruto.

"Fine by me. Ero-ji won't mind, he'll probably be too busy writing his book, anyway." Naruto stated matter-of-factly. Just as the brother and sister pair beside him had finished nodding to one another, Temari looked back over to Zabuza.

"We're not doing anything important. Sunday sounds okay to us."

"Neji-kun?" Tenten looked over at her boyfriend, who seemed to be sifting through his memories as he found a very interesting crack in the concrete to start staring towards.

"Hiashi-oji had requested that I help run some errands. However, they should be complete within a number of hours if I start early enough. The afternoon would be more suitable for me as it is for Tenten." Neji noted the respectful nods he received. It was somewhat of an unwritten rule that the band members would respect any prior engagements anybody else had. Since their band venture was only in the amateur stage, they still had larger, more important parts of their life to carry on with.

"Then it's settled." Zabuza concluded before looking back over to Naruto, who had lifted his back from the side of the van and slung a thin, black jacket over his shoulder. "Naruto, we'll aim to be at your place between half-two and three, cool?" Again, Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Not a problem."

With the consensus placed, everybody began to gently shuffle inch-by-inch in the direction of the van.

"Alright, let's get you all back home, then." Zabuza said before turning on his heel and walking around the front of the van towards the driver's side. Haku quickly opened the passenger side door and silently jumped in. Just as Temari was about to follow Tenten and Neji into the main seating area, she noticed Naruto absentmindedly flickering his thumb over his iPod Touch near the rear of the vehicle, making no move at all to enter with the rest of the band.

"You coming, Naruto?" Said boy quickly looked up. His eyes displayed a clear sign of unease as they skimmed over the hulking mass of metal and then towards the cloudless, star scattered sky draped above them. Both Temari and Gaara waited patiently for his reply, but they caught the quick sign of disturbance across his features before meagrely smiling.

"Erm…" he uncharacteristically stammered, "N-no. I can walk home from here, it's only about half-an-hour away."

"Are you sure? You'll get there a lot faster if-"

"Temari." The guitarist caught Zabuza's deep tone from inside the van. The moment she found his bandaged face looking back over the seat towards her, he sent her a light frown and reinforced it with a silent shake of his head. She suddenly found the whole scenario very odd. Why would Naruto refuse to ride with them? They were a team, whenever they had the option, they would travel, compose and rehearse together. And why did Zabuza interfere in the way he did? Didn't he want to know what Naruto was up to?

Or…did he already know?

"Alright." She looked back at Naruto, who observed her previous interaction with a curious eye. "Just…be careful, yeah?" Despite Temari's obvious tomfoolery around Naruto, she had as much respect for him as she did her brother, Zabuza and every other member of the band. She enjoyed playing with him, the flirting and mockery being part of it, but it was times likes this that her caring but observant side emerged. She always told herself that a friend of her younger brother was a friend of hers, too.

"Don't sweat it!" Naruto suddenly burst out with a massive grin, a grin that eased neither Gaara nor Temari's scepticism. "Anyway, good job guys! I'll catch you all on Sunday!" A chorus of muffled farewells was the response that hit his back, as he was already walking in the opposite direction the van was facing.

Temari's rear had barely touched her seat next to Tenten before calling out to Zabuza in the driver's seat, "Okay, what was that about? You're just going to let him walk home, on his own, on a night like this? If something's going on, then I think we deserve to know about it."

Zabuza listened attentively to the rant, taking his time in adjusting the rear view mirror. Haku, who had remained his quiet self for the majority of the night, simply looked across at his older brother as if to suggest some method of response. The lead singer brought his hand back from the mirror and down onto the wheel, extending his pregnant pause for a few more seconds.

"It's not my place to say. Naruto will tell you when he feels ready." With that, the engine of the van fired up in a deep growl, drowning out any possible noise that may have formed another question, before idling in neutral. A quick shift into 'Drive', and the vehicle gently moved off, leaving a tiny echo of the engine to hang in the alley before the gentle night breeze carried it away with the abandoned day-old newspaper shards scattered along the ground.

* * *

**Two Miles West of Konoha City Centre - 22:53 hrs**

Such a late hour of a Friday night would surely leave one worried as to their personal safety. Predators seeking drunken victims could easily find a metaphorical kill in the sleuth of outgoing patrons that found themselves staggering in order to find their legs like newborn fawn. The quiet individual with his hands stuffed in his pockets, stance slouched and footing oddly strong, was not one of those supposed victims.

Obviously, Naruto had put his vest back on the moment he left the stage, and now it clung to his body with added creases and blotches of wet fabric caused by the water that he had poured over himself before the final song.

God…why did he do that?

Oh, yeah…it was because his face felt like it was on fire from his blush. He quickly laughed at himself in disbelief as he recalled what he had done. It was the very first time somebody had called out to him specifically, so that in itself was something to be surprised about. However, it was just downright embarrassing that he had actually agreed to strip for an audience. Perhaps the rush of the crowd had gone to his head…

Either way, it was all done and dusted, ready to be shelved away as yet another gig memory. There may not have been many up to that moment, but it was always good to have a library of interesting things to tell future…acquaintances. Pah! Who was he kidding? Like anybody would ever be interested in him in that way. He barely got any attention in school as it was. And any instance in which the attention of his classmates shifted towards him, it was only because somebody had taken a verbal shot at him.

That was why Naruto loved the atmosphere of the cheering crowd. There were no names, no personalities to scrutinise, only elated faces and supportive screams, he was a stranger to everybody down in the mosh pit and beyond; and even if he wasn't, the music was what they were meant to be focussing on, not him as a single entity.

Even through his earphones, Naruto could hear the utter silence around him. The distant rustle of a swaying tree branch would occasionally brush across him, but the whole scene was such a drastic contrast to the stage environment that he felt like he was suddenly on another planet. Sometimes, though, that was a good thing. He could only put up with high-wattage stage amplifiers for so long before he felt like he was contracting tinnitus.

Funnily enough, the outro of the song currently playing on his iPod almost reflected the scenery around him:

'_When I'm walking the dark road, I am a man who walks alone.'_

That was a sure thing…

He briefly looked up to see nothing but more expansive concrete belonging to the sidewalk; it seemed to go on as far as the horizon, as if to punish him for not choosing to take the option of the van. He must have been at least another twenty minutes from home, he had deduced.

Just as the final guitar note of the song died away, opening his ears back up to the percussive nothingness around him, Naruto heard a set of loud and relatively high-pitched vocal ejections just above and immediately left of him. Curious, he looked up at the two-floor detached house with a raised eyebrow. Because the area he was currently trudging through was all part of a major construction plan during its development, the house had nothing structurally unique to discern it from the houses next to it, nor a house one hundred metres away.

The front door was connected to a two-metre protrusion of decking that spanned to both the left and right before ending at the extruded walls that made up the flanking wings of the building. If anything, the house would look like an extremely blocky and square-like 'U' shape from above, where the front door would form the central dip, and the rear was simply a flat wall.

The top-right room from his perspective was illuminated by what he assumed to be a ceiling light. A set of light red, almost-pink curtains were pulled across to block any view from outside, but the fabric was thin enough to easily highlight the shadows of the room's occupants. Based on the two slim figures stood across from each other, and the drowned sound of laughter seeping through a small opening in one of the windows, he could easily tell they were girls. That was all the more reason for why he quickly set off back in the direction of his intended destination. If he had been caught staring absentmindedly towards a girl's bedroom, he'd surely be called a pervert.

It was actually quite a shame, because if he had stuck around a few seconds longer…he would have heard them say his name.

* * *

On the other side of the metaphorical wall of obliviousness, a cheerful aura lurked inside the medium sized bedroom at the front of the Haruno household. Much like her childhood friend, Sakura's room was peppered with tints and hues of the pink variety: the painted, knobbly plaster clinging to the walls, the unbelievably girlish, blush-like colour of the bedding…

Even the hanging shade of the light above their heads was pink, adding to the utterly feminine tinge of the room.

The aforementioned bed gently creaked as its owner let her weight be taken from her feet, crossing her legs for decency purposes despite being in her own private sanctum with her most trusted friend. Not even Sakura could fully understand how she and Ino could constantly get so hostile over a guy, and yet keep the patience of a messiah in order to 'kiss and make up', so to speak. It had always remained the same since middle school: both of them had always declared themselves the 'true' admirers of Uchiha Sasuke, and they would never waver in their attempts to undermine one another. Be it by calling one another nicknames, taking pot shots at each other's looks etc. Ino had even gone so far as to April Fool Sakura in seventh grade.

Believing a (later-to-be-revealed) doctored love letter dropped in her locker to have been written by Sasuke, she had practically skipped to the back of the gymnasium…only to be met by a small water balloon to the face. Ino never let Sakura live that one down.

Back in the present day, both teens were recoiling from Ino's best impersonation of Naruto's stage etiquette. Hearing a young woman say _'I can't fucking hear you'_ in her best 'manly gigantor' impersonation was certainly something that would tickle. Only just as their laughter trailed off did Sakura start the ball rolling on some relatively constructive conversation.

"I can't believe he'd try to act all high and mighty like that!" She said with vigour.

"I know!" Ino eagerly agreed, before both of them quickly cracked with laughter once again, although a little more reserved than before. As they trailed off into mindless sighs, Sakura had no problem jumping into the inevitable comparison stage as she wiped an imaginary tear of humour from beneath her left eye.

"It's no surprise he's in a band like that. All that vulgarity fits well with the stereotype. Not like Sasuke-kun." Her eyes all too naturally turned dreamy, "His band has such an awesome flame of passion. His voice is so…powerful and magnetising." In a sudden bipolar-like twist, Sakura frowned with distaste.

"It's so much better than all that screaming. That's not music, it's murder on my ears!" She looked across from her to find Ino looking at the carpet under feet with a small smile that held more innocence than mockery. "And don't think I didn't see what you were doing either." Ino looked up, eyes displaying her confusion.

"Wha'?" For what it was worth, Ino couldn't help but shoot her memory back to when she was stood above the band. Although she was all for taking playful shots at what she and Sakura had witnessed, some of her initial disbelief was still failing to settle down.

"You were bobbing your head to that last song! I saw you!" Sakura emphasised the subject of her scorn by pointing right at her friend's chest. Ino, under pressure, nervously (more like 'guiltily') chuckled, letting her eyes waver off towards the window.

"I…I just thought the beat was catchy, that's all." Whatever confidence Ino had gone out with was steadfastly ejected from her body. She wasn't going to deny the fact since she knew she had consciously performed the action, but it was still similar to being caught with one's hand in the cookie jar. Sakura leered at her with a lopsided and lazy grin.

"A beat created by a blonde drummer?" The speed at which Ino's head snapped back would have surely rattled the room with the sound of cracking joints.

"No way!" She shot back without hesitation, adding a scoff for the sake of her defence, "It was just…you know…" Sakura obviously didn't know, but she had said it anyway.

"I just found the tune…appealing…for some reason." Sakura saw the honesty in Ino's eyes. However, that didn't mean she had to understand the answer. That sorry excuse for music was just awful in her opinion, so what on earth could have been remotely 'appealing' about it? As far as she was concerned, it was a collaboration of the wild and ungraceful smacking of some drums, the random strumming of strings (for the most part, at least), and somebody who screamed as if they had something permanently lodged down their throat. Sakura briefly shrugged off her hypercritical mindset, and so pushed the conversation in a – sort of – new direction.

"Seriously, though…who would have thought that _Naruto_ could do that?" She said in a much calmer manner, "It's no wonder he looked at us like a serial killer at school this morning." Ino certainly didn't forget that heart-stopping glare he had sent their way after Sasuke had taken that pot shot at him. At least she could maintain some form of comfort in the knowledge that he had pulled that gesture for a reason.

A highly pregnant pause suddenly overcame the duo, both of whom were stuck in their own thoughts about their classmates. It was a very big revelation, to suddenly find out that a boy who attracted mockery and, at an earlier age, bullying, was a talented drummer and…undeniably well built under his somewhat baggy clothing; while a second, who sought no real attention and generally kept to himself, was just as gifted on a keyboard. It suddenly brought forth one single question in both of their minds: Why hadn't they let anybody know they had such skills?

Naruto had never so much as hinted as to having any sort of extra-curricular or out of school activity. The apparent lacklustre life he seemed to portray was one of the reasons he wasn't all that cared for amongst his peers. Even Ino had to admit, from what she had heard at the club, that he had talent. Of course, he'd never be as good as Sasuke, but to keep his ability hidden was just silly, in her opinion.

"It makes me wonder…we don't really know anything about him, do we?" Ino calmly asked to the block of air in front of her. In her peripheral vision, she saw the waving of pink strands as Sakura silently shook her head.

"I guess not", came Sakura's quiet reply.

"I'm sure his parents must at least be disappointed in his idiocy at school." Saying that aloud suddenly made Ino realise she didn't have any idea as to Naruto's family stance. "Come to think of it, what about that? Does Naruto actually have family?" Sakura jointly shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"The closest thing I heard was that he's an only child and lives with his parents. I haven't seen or heard anything to say otherwise. They must be really laid back, you know? To let their son go out so late and act so…rebellious." To her surprise, Sakura heard a scoff from across the room.

"And your parents aren't the same? Letting you go out until late while you snuck into clubs and drank, even whilst underage? At least I had to lie to my mom and dad; otherwise they wouldn't have let me set one foot out the house. They thought I was coming straight here." Sakura had no real retort to Ino's sudden attack, but deep down, she knew her friend was right. Her parents must have had a lot of trust in their daughter in order to let her out on such a busy night. Because she had no decent reply, silence once again reigned over the atmosphere of the pink-saturated bedroom. Ino hated awkward silences, it was one of the few things that could get her very uncomfortable very fast. Knowing just the thing to lighten the mood, she slapped her hands together before walking across the room and sitting on the bed next to her friend.

"Still, he's nowhere near as good as Sasuke-kun. Granted, he'd probably beat out that drummer in the band already, erm…what was his name?" Ino had a finger up by her lip as she thought of Will of Fire's drummer.

"Jūgo", Sakura didn't even have to think about her reply. She had already undertaken the self-imposed duty of remembering all the names of the band members, just in case Sasuke would, one day, bring it up in conversation. Therefore, she would know whom he was talking about, and hopefully gain some metaphorical brownie points.

"Yeah, him. But just hitting some drums is nothing compared to Sasuke-kun's voice." Ino's face brightened as she thought of her brooding classmate.

"I'll say", Sakura quickly said, having no problem in agreeing with the statement. "Monday's going to be kind of weird, isn't it?"

"Maybe, but I think we can have some fun, as well." Sakura noted the grin crossing Ino's face; that usually wasn't a good sign. "He doesn't know we were there, does he?" Sakura paused to briefly think back. Although the crowd at the Sixty-Four Palms may have been dense, with no real, discernable faces emerging from the swathe of patrons, she wanted to make sure that he hadn't looked up towards the balcony in their direction. Satisfied with the knowledge of his ignorance to their presence, Sakura shook her head to confirm Ino's suspicion, a sign that said blonde was able to proceed.

"I was thinking we could…tease him about it a bit." Ino's oddly blasé and innocent tone only sought to increase its mischievous rating in Sakura's eyes.

"Why don't we just tell Sasuke-kun instead?" Sakura suddenly replied, her voice edging towards impatience. She was getting steadfastly annoyed by Ino's subliminal insistence on keeping Naruto as the subject. Yes, they had found out such a new and strange thing about their classmate(s), but it wasn't a subject she wanted to bother clinging to for much longer. In her opinion, Sasuke – and, via connection, his band - was better, and that was all that mattered to her at that moment.

"We could…" Ino quickly contemplated the notion by looking at the ceiling, "…but where's the fun in letting the cat out of the bag so soon?"

"If you insist", Sakura deadpanned, refusing to gather the energy to argue so late at night. "Are you working tomorrow?" Finally, she found the pause that would allow her to change the direction of the conversation. Ino quickly fell onto her back with a sigh, the springs in the mattress lightly bouncing her body upwards before gravity once again forced itself upon her.

"Yeah, I think I'll just head straight there in the morning. You don't mind if I have breakfast here, do you?" She swivelled her head across, trying to find Sakura's eyes since the rosette's body was now perpendicular to her vision. From her orientation, she believed she saw a small smile in Sakura's face.

"I wouldn't be a good friend and host if I said 'no', would I?" Ino returned the smile, letting her eyes cutely droop as she stretched her arms outward to express her tiredness. Noting this, Sakura stood up and made for the door in the corner of the room to her right. "I'll get that futon for you." Ino replied with a small, encased yawn.

"Thanks." As Sakura closed the door behind her, Ino stared towards the ceiling for what must have been the third time that night, thinking back to that one moment up on the deck as she looked upon the stage. His hair seemed so wild when he didn't hold it behind that bandana of his, and his eyes shone greater than any time she had ever witnessed; but it only gave him a greater appeal of, dare she think it, manliness.

As Sakura had confirmed only minutes ago, neither of the friends had any proper clue as to Naruto himself; they had been ones to follow the flow of popular trends, melding with the attitudes of their peers in order to fit in with a more comfortable crowd. Naruto was shunned, the actual reason for why was lost to her, but she had joined in regardless. Now it suddenly made her wonder…how did Naruto feel about it all? It suddenly made Ino realise that she had it wrong. Her fellow blonde seemed so moronic in school, giving hardly any care to work, constantly making mischief, sometimes disregarding authority; it was this Naruto that she had judged so harshly. Now, because of what she had laid witness to that night, she found herself asking a question that would likely take a considerable amount of time to figure out, a question whose answer would eventually change how she interpreted others:

'_Who is Uzumaki Naruto?'_

Little did she know, however, that she'd have the opportunity to answer that question much sooner than she could anticipate.

* * *

**South-Eastern Konoha – 23:03 hrs**

The upper-class housing estate sat on a raised patch of land that gave an undeniably beautiful view of the city a few miles away, the array of street and building lights illuminating the darkness like still fireflies. Despite the view, it was only met with Neji's back as he walked towards his current living establishment. The van housing the growling engine sound in the distance had since carried his girlfriend away from him, but he had no reason to fret, for he would see her again on Sunday.

Despite his highly gruff and uncouth appearance, Neji had since restrained his hair behind his back with a low band that, while maintaining a voluminous visage, kept it kemp and tidy. The main reason for doing so was because of the household etiquette his uncle liked to maintain: no unnecessary scruffiness whatsoever. There was only so much cleanliness he could exuberate before he got into a shower, thus ridding himself of the gig-induced sweat that had dried and stuck to his skin.

As he entered the three-floor house, he was met with a beautiful floor of varnished wood that ran the length of the hallway to the kitchen in the rear, with two square-arched openings on the right for the living and dining rooms respectively. The first opening on the left led to the first staircase, while a second oak door concealed the under-stair cloakroom.

"I'm home", Neji announced before placing the large guitar container against the wall, taking time to slip his shoes off and feel the cooled wood underneath his feet. Just as he leaned down to rotate his footwear so that they faced the door, he heard the deeper voice of his uncle behind him.

"Ah, Neji, there you are," he spoke rather stoically, "I trust your…event…proceeded without any issues?"

Hyuuga Hiashi was a man of poise and high stature, one who believed that to carry oneself to either notoriety or wealth was the path to a fulfilling life. Being the local branch manager for Byakugan Imaging, a company that manufactured and sold MRI scanners to medical institutions across the world, supported his reasoning in a way only he could understand.

However, that did not mean that he did not care for others. After his brother, Hizashi, lost his life to a cardiac arrest due to a pulmonary embolism, Hiashi willingly took up the mantle of caring for his brother's legacy. Neji, who was only six years old at the time, moved in to his uncle's home. Fortunately, despite the loss of both of his parents (his mother had died during childbirth), Neji came to find a good family atmosphere with his cousins and uncle.

Regardless, Hiashi was still sceptical as to Neji's hobby, which he had taken up soon after moving in. Then again, the young man was making money from his musical ventures, so it was also a step in the right direction. The old geezer was a man who did not see the positives in trying to relate with the activities of the modern youth, lest it have an effect on his maturity, which was why he would never refer to a gig as such, he would always call it an 'event'.

"It was very satisfactory, oji-san." Neji said respectfully, "I would have to say that the crowd was beyond pleased with our performance, based on the noise that was thrown our way." Neji was simply met with a nod that dripped with absolutely no enthusiasm at all.

"That's…delectable to hear. Hinata prepared some supper in the case that you returned with an appetite." Hiashi finished before turning about and heading back towards the living room, where Neji noticed a newspaper lying open by a wooden stand that sat next to a large leather chair. Neji decided to move his guitar once he had at least sustained himself, and so headed straight for the kitchen at the end of the hallway.

The lukewarm wood under his feet quickly transformed to cold tiling as they crossed into the white and marble combination. The kitchen was divided between a large surface that covered three walls, ranging from overhead cupboards to a large liquor cabinet and even a rack that held necked glasses inverted, much like a common bar did.

In the centre of the room was an island that held the majority of the hardware necessary to cook: a hob, oven…even a grilling pad. The surrounding cupboards and draws contained the pans and various utensils, some of which that no ordinary teenager would have need for. Stood at said island was the eldest of his two younger cousins.

Hyuuga Hinata stood in some baggy nightwear with her back to the door, her silky lavender hair was roughly tied back, revealing the apron strap that wrapped around her thin frame and converged at a knot in the centre of her lower back. Neji was fully aware of his cousin's crush on his fellow band mate, and he himself had no problem in silently chastising said band mate for not noticing such a pretty young woman. Being her family, he knew he was expected to at least support her in her - unfortunately one-sided - chase for his affection; but being around Naruto a lot more had let Neji know that the blonde wasn't looking for a relationship at that moment in his life. Shooing the thoughts away, Neji quietly cleared his throat.

Hearing the noise, Hinata turned with a quiet squeak of surprise, her wide eyes quickly relaxing as she saw Neji standing across from her. And since Neji had returned, that meant only one thing: gossip about Naruto.

"Welcome home, Neji-nii-san." She spoke with a demure tone. Hinata had known Neji for the majority of her life to that day. He had been a source of assistance and wisdom to her for years, and that was why she considered their bond to be closer than that of cousins, hence why she referred to him as 'brother'.

"How was the performance?" She continued, keeping a hopeful eye on Neji as he walked around her and headed for a distant overhead cupboard. Pulling out a glass tumbler, he spoke as he walked back across the kitchen towards the sink.

"It was very entertaining, if I say so myself. Quite the energetic turnout as well." Hinata waited until Neji had finished filling the tumbler in his hand with water and rested against the counter before progressing.

"Any…moments of interest?" The supposed innocence of Hinata's voice made Neji want to laugh, but he knew that he was made of sterner stuff. Subliminally, he was fully aware that the question basically meant, _'Did Naruto do anything notable?'_

Boy, was she in for a surprise…

"Honestly, it was no different from some of our other outings." He saw his cousin's face fall slightly, but he held back his fast approaching smile as he walked back towards the door, passing Hinata without a look.

"However…now that I think about it…one woman in the crowd somehow persuaded Naruto to remove his vest." Just as he heard the sudden gasp behind him, he let the smug smile take full force.

Without another word, he exited the room, leaving a red-faced Hinata to stand like a statue, she would surely be trying to conjure that mental image soon enough.

* * *

**North-Western Konoha – 23:23 hrs**

Sat in a large black recliner was a man whose eyes gave away the tiredness of his body and the worry that lay in his heart, even as they continually danced left to right over sentence and sentence of his own hand-written notes. The paper occasionally glimmered from the intrusive beams of light that broke through the windows, thanks to the cars that had to slow down and turn the corner upon which the large but empty house sat permanently guarding.

On the flat stand by his relaxed right arm sat a small glass one-third full of a thick brown liqueur, something somebody could mistake for toffee, should it have been acting as the topping of a cake. Sparing a glance at the clock on the cream coloured wall across from him for what must have been the tenth time in the last three minutes, he sighed with concern.

The house was too big for just him. Even though the front door immediately opened up into the large living area on the right, with the kitchen and table cut off from the rest by a tiny divider that protruded from a wall, there were still three other utility rooms downstairs, a basement, and three bedrooms upstairs with two separate bathrooms. It was too expansive for one man, that's why he was anxiously awaiting the return of his fellow occupant.

The house was just too uncomfortable without his godson there to liven it up.

The bulky man could no longer look at the endless sea of his own handwriting that seemed to drown his eyes, and so dropped the pages in his hand over the left armrest. As if destiny had felt his loneliness, the attention that had once been directed to his papers, was quickly directed to the creaking front door on his left.

"Ero-ji, I'm back!"

A breath that the man seemed to be suppressing for hours finally blew forth from his lips in relief. Slowly moving himself from the recliner, he felt his long and somewhat heavy trail of spiky, whitened hair connect with his back. Even from a distance, he could see he had just over half a foot in height over the new arrival.

'_Another few years and he'll be a living, spitting image of his old man.'_ He thought, feeling a small sense of pride as the teenager started walking towards him with a smile on his face. Seeing that smile always helped liven him up again, it also reminded him of the friends he had once cherished.

"So, did it all go well? Did you rock their worlds?" He leaned in with a leer that Naruto had become all too familiar with, and it was easily reflected in what the man said next, "Did any chicks throw their bras at you?" His response was a playful, open-handed shove to the chest, which only made him laugh.

"Dream on you big perv", Naruto said, trying to keep his eyes focussed on something other than his godfather's, who thankfully let the subject drop with another laugh. Only once he felt the gaze move away from him did Naruto look up.

His godfather, Jiraiya, was an undeniably large man even for his age. Standing at 6'2'', Naruto had a feeling that the day would never come in which he would be able to look down at Jiraiya. On top of that, the man in his early fifties was quite bulky as well. Apparently, he had been a skilled martial artist in his prime, but he sought a career in writing that eventually took him away from any kind of training. Naruto steadfastly refused to ever let his homeroom teacher know that his own godfather had physically written the story inside the smutty books that the masked teacher enjoyed reading. He'd never hear the end of it, otherwise.

Jiraiya wore a white, long-sleeved shirt that he had unbuttoned down to his chest; the shirt itself was tucked into a neat pair of dark brown pants that made up one half of a suit.

"Did you walk again?" Naruto heard the sombre tone as he turned around and headed in the direction of the kitchen across the massive lower floor area.

"Yeah." Naruto didn't have to explain himself any further, but as a way of demonstrating his point, he stopped and looked back at his guardian, who was gazing out the window and taking stock of the late-night sky.

Jiraiya slowly looked back at Naruto, but found that he wasn't the focal point of the blonde's sight anymore. He already knew where Naruto was looking, but he looked back over his shoulder anyway, to look at a single framed picture sitting atop the mantelpiece that hung over a wide fireplace.

"You can't keep saying 'no', Naruto. There'll come a day when-"

"I know, Jiraiya-ji." _'Jiraiya-ji'_, Naruto never referred to him that way unless he was trying to say something seriously. "But that doesn't mean I'll do it when I don't have to. Besides, I don't feel ready yet." Naruto deemed the topic dead by continuing his trek towards the kitchen, an ignorant action that only made Jiraiya sigh in resignation.

"Alright, I won't push…for a while. Anyway, how about the pay? Anything decent?" Jiraiya followed his charge, stopping at the marble divider that marked the entrance/exit of the kitchen. He wasn't asking for the sake of any ulterior motives, the large man was simply curious as to how his godson's hobby was doing him good. It was one way of showing his support. Naruto pulled a cola bottle from one of the many stacked shelves that sat inside the fridge door. The thing was taller than he was, and then there was the freezer of identical height right next to it, as well.

"Zabuza's got the cheque, he said he'd cash it and give out the cuts next practice. Speaking of which, is it okay for everybody to come over on Sunday?" Jiraiya briefly delayed his answer with a hum as he thought about his schedule.

"I was hoping to keep working on my new book, but it should be alright since the basement's soundproofed." Looking down, Jiraiya saw the slight nervousness in Naruto's eyes. Before he could ask, he was already getting his answer.

"Cool, cool…" Naruto said a little too casually, before rapidly adding in a low volume, "'cause I kind of already told them you wouldn't mind." Jiraiya's voice caught in his throat before raising his hands in slight annoyance.

"Gaki", he said before lightly slapping his hand on top of Naruto's head.

"Hey, you never had a problem with it before. So, I figured, why would you have one now?" Naruto asked with a cheeky grin. Jiraiya hated it when Naruto pulled that Cheshire grin, the 'whiskers' on face only made him seem more cat-like than anybody else. But that wasn't why he hated it, it was because he knew deep down that it was one of the few gestures that pulled at the soft spot he had for the boy. He was closest thing the old guy had to a family, and that made him special. To distract himself, Jiraiya gave Naruto a hearty slap on the shoulder…just as the teen was trying to down half of the contents of the bottle in his hand.

Naruto stumbled, but fortunately caught his balance…even though he ended up feeling the nasty burning of carbon dioxide somewhere in his nasal passage. With a brief coughing fit after swallowing what he was desperately trying to keep in his mouth, the young drummer looked back up at Jiraiya with a pout of disapproval that looked more comical than anything else. With a hearty laugh, Jiraiya headed back to the seat he had previously occupied.

"It's no doubt that they're proud of you, Naruto." Jiraiya said aloud.

'_I know I am'_, he kept that opinion to himself. Naruto simply watched his godfather's back in slight surprise. But once he knew what the subject of the remark was, his eyes became deeper, and, with a sigh, looked back over to that one picture sat on the mantelpiece. The reflection of the ceiling light blocked the majority of its contents, but Naruto could just make out his own childish smile sat between a waterfall of bright yellow on one side, and a curtain of red on the other.

"I hope so."

* * *

**Saturday 13****th**** - Konoha City Centre - 13:46 hrs**

For a busy day like today, the consumer traffic was oddly low. It could have been for numerous reasons: maybe nobody had gifts of gratitude or apology to purchase for their loved one, perhaps there were no mourners for those with loves lost, could it be that there weren't any people seeking tokens of affection that they can give to their prospective love?

Love, love, love…and sometimes gardening.

Those were just about the only reasons for why somebody would buy flowers. They were either for a loved one, or because somebody had the desire to pretty up their front yard, back garden, windowsill flowerbed, vase, and whatever other means there were of holding flowers in a decorative manner.

For once on a usual working Saturday, in which the crowds were supposed to be bustling and the people wore fresh, smiling faces…Ino had become bored. Not that she minded, though. No, she was still too busy racking her mind over last night's events.

It was funny, Sakura had almost threatened to toss Ino out during breakfast because the blonde constantly fired off 'what ifs' regarding Naruto. She couldn't help it! She adamantly refused to believe that he would simply keep his 'second life', as she had called it, secret from the majority of his peers.

It birthed so many questions. Why? Why was he willingly keeping it silent? Naruto was a knucklehead through and through, she thought, how was he resisting the urge to shout out that he was in a band and performing at paid gigs?

When? When did he take up the instrument? When did he join the band? Did he create it with help, or did he join one that had put up an ad in the local paper? If it was the latter, it must have surely been a coincidence that four of the members were students at Konoha High.

How? How did he become so skilful at such a young age? Did his drumming take precedence over his academic studies? If so, why? Again with the 'why'!

What? What happened that would urge him to take up the drums in the first place? Was he a troublemaker by nature, full of energy in his youth? Was it an activity that suited the hyperactivity he constantly demonstrated at school?

Where? Where did he practice? If it were at school, everybody would notice, therefore breaking his cover, so that was out of the question. Perhaps there was an independent studio nearby?

Who? Who put him up to it? Was somebody his inspiration for taking up the pastime? Maybe his parents wanted him to do something constructive with his out-of-school time.

So many questions!

Ino couldn't understand it. It had only been just longer than twelve hours, and yet she found her curiosity controlling her thought process, overriding her body's ability to move. The fact that the knucklehead was plaguing her contemplative mind was incredibly frustrating, let alone mind-boggling. Was this what all journalists became as they researched for articles? If so, she knew that she had better get used to the chronic nosiness…fast.

Not to mention his body…

The guy may not have been much for sports at school, but he certainly wasn't packing any second stomach, that much was certain. Playing that instrument (But how long for? Gah, again with the questions!) certainly required some physical prowess. With the rate he was moving his legs on the bass pedals, his thighs and calves must have been worked pretty hard. And the speed he was moving the sticks would have most definitely been hard on his arms.

'_Get out of my head you stupid jackass! You're not as special as Sasuke-kun!' _She cried inside her mind, even while her exterior self was simply leaning forward against the shop counter with chin in hand, gazing as if bewildered by a speck of soil on the floor, _'Now I really wish I'd agreed with forehead and just left.'_

It was now that Ino went through one of those rare moments in which she hated her own brain for being so curious.

She wasn't, by any means, interested for romantic reasons. It was, more or less, because of sheer disbelief. The disbelief that he was more than he seemed to be was what had her wanting to discover exactly what she wasn't seeing about him.

The same could all be said for Gaara, their other classmate. But the big difference that had Ino not caring was the simple fact that nobody bothered Gaara. He kept to himself, and as such, people let him be. Naruto, on the other hand, repeatedly garnered some form of attention. He certainly got it, but not in a very good way.

"Excuse me." Ino shook herself free of her daze when the sharp, yet polite voice called out barely a metre from her face. She looked up and saw a red haired woman looking at her with a mix of impatience and inquisitiveness. Briefly flabbergasted, Ino quickly apologised as she straightened out her purple apron.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed with a nervous cheer, trying to lighten the mood before she risked getting an earful. "It's been a slow day so far, I guess I just fell into my own little world. Anyway, how can I help you?"

As she listened with an attentive ear to her customer's enquiry, Ino suddenly thought about the orange shirt she was wearing underneath the apron.

She remembered that Naruto was wearing an orange shirt at school yesterday, too…

'_DAMN IT!'_

She couldn't wait until Monday. The first reason was because she wanted to catch the seat next to Sasuke in the morning, and the second was to start getting back at the moron that insisted on passively turning her insane through curiosity.

Let the teasing commence…

* * *

**Monday 15****th**** – Konoha High School – 08:44hrs**

Not single cloud hung in the azure sky, leaving the entire school ground to be covered by an amazing yellow sheet that could only be blocked by the solid red brickwork of the main building and matte grey of the gymnasium. Already the ambient air was filled with the sound of nattering between reunited friends, asking the usual conversation drivel: how they were, what they did over the weekend etc. Sadly, Ino could not engage in such conversation, for there was nobody nearby that she knew well enough with which to have a decent conversation. Ergo, all she could do was put up with yet more glances thrown her way by the school's populous of male students.

Despite the beautiful weather, the young woman was slightly downtrodden; it had to be amazingly hot on a day she had worn jeans, didn't it? Curse her father for being so picky about wearing skirts.

She couldn't blame him though, being an only child herself - much like she currently assumed Naruto to be – as well as popular amongst her peers, her father was naturally very protective of her. He may not have done much in his youth to build up or demonstrate strength, but it seemed that physical genealogy was responsible for Yamanaka males ending up broad shouldered with intimidating, square-jawed faces. Just looking at him made people think twice. To top it all off, he was a psychologist; so the possibility of him weeding out your hidden motives just from looking at how you acted and spoke wasn't far-fetched.

Parents and their vigilance aside, Ino made her way up the shallow path of stone stairs that led into the school. Veering right as she passed one of the two sets of double doors, she passed down a long corridor chock full of lockers on the walls either side of her. She spared a quick glance at her own locker that, while bland like the rest, was secured by a single-dial padlock with a simple flower design painted in the centre. She didn't keep much in that locker anyway; most of the textbooks she used in class she took to and from home, rather than leaving everything stuffed in there like a cartoon's impression of a child's closet, where the world and his wife would tumble out, creating an avalanche of clutter that would take hours to stuff back in.

Turning left around the corner in order to avoid the staircase the led to the first and second floors, she saw the marker for Class 4 protruding from the wall at a point just above the door. She might be early, but at least she'd definitely beat that pink-headed billboard brow in acquiring the spot next to her crush.

Ten metres from the room, she stopped as she heard a grainy but familiar voice pass through the doorway she was about to pass. The red door itself was open just enough for sound to easily escape.

"You saw that, too?" His voice was full of surprise and genuine shock, so much so that she could imagine his wide-eyed, slack-jawed face. Only then did she hear the second voice. It was high in pitch, but it definitely sounded almost like a cackle.

"Damn right, I did. I never thought you had it in ya." The woman confidently said with cheer. All Ino could hear afterward was a loud sigh with an interlaced moan.

"Man…I thought taking it off was bad enough, now I find out my own Biology teacher saw it." Ino froze, eyes shooting open as she heard the revelation. Ino immediately knew whom he was talking to, mostly because she and Naruto had the same Biology timetable slot. _She_ was there, too? Oh, crap…not good. What if she had seen Ino and Sakura? Not only was Ino prolonging her curiosity at the conversation at hand, but now she was freaking out over the possibility that a school teacher, one of the wackiest ones at that, had seen two under aged school students at a night club. The woman was-

"Now, now, drummer boy. Outside of this place, I'm not a teacher, remember? I get to enjoy all the sights a Friday night allows, even if that includes seeing bare-topped students." Was that woman _seriously_ talking to Naruto in such an unprofessional manner, _whilst in school_?

"Don't forget, where my partner plays, I go to watch. I thought you knew that already."

WHAT?

Did she just say what Ino thought she just said? The blonde sure as hell hoped she had misunderstood the remark. Because otherwise there would be hell to pay if anybody found out.

"Zabuza never mentioned you coming to gigs at all", she heard Naruto say dejectedly.

Phew. For a moment, Ino thought the woman was referring to Naruto. Her worry dashed, she was able to relax before listening in again.

"Well, you know now don't you? So you'd better do your best whenever you perform, ne?" Despite the downer Naruto sounded like he was approaching, the woman constantly sounded chipper. Such was the attitude of…

"Anko-sensei…" The downtrodden young man groaned to display how uncomfortable he was.

…Mitarashi Anko. A fiery but dashing woman in her mid-twenties, a very intimidating figure to anybody who should cross her, and – in the opinion of most students – somebody just a few cents short of a dime. She had a thing for snakes, and she often claimed that they were the reason she got into biology; she thought the skin-shedding feature that any legless reptile possessed was a truly remarkable ability.

"Anyway, get going. And at least try to work next time you're in my class." Hearing the teacher's ejection of her classmate and his subsequent laugh of mischief, Ino immediately broke out into a human version of a canter, crossing the threshold of Class 4 just as Naruto exposed himself to the corridor.

Even as Ino made her way to her usual seating area by the windows across the room, she unremittingly stared at the floor that swam beneath her. Now Naruto had an out of school connection with Mitarashi-sensei? She said something about a partner. Oh yeah, the guy with the bandages said his name was Zabuza…was he the teacher's partner? How so? Friend? Girlfriend? Fiancée? _Wife_? Well, she had said 'partner', so it was likely that they were in a long-term relationship, such was the meaning of the term.

Just how deep did the roots of RasenShuriken burrow into the school? Yet more questions that only sought to dig at Ino's impatience and eagerness to obtain gossip material.

Temporarily shaking her mind of the concerns, the blonde looked up and saw the two things she really felt like she needed in order to brighten her day. The first was Sasuke, sat as stoic as ever by the window, gazing towards to troposphere. The second was the empty seating area next to the singer. Seeing this, Ino's face brightened considerably. Finally seeing her crush once again was enough to make her briefly forget about Naruto, much to her delight.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun", she chirped, declaring her presence to the brooding teen by laying her books down near his left elbow, which was propping up his chin. All she heard in response was a hum out the side of his neck, it may not have been much, but Ino could savour the fact that he had at least acknowledged her.

"Did you have a good weekend?" Just as she sat down in her seat, a quick flick of her head moved her soft and shiny train of hair behind her back, opening up the front of her body to be freely viewed. To go with her jeans, she had worn a simple t-shirt with a low v-neck. Because of the outside temperature, she had decided to go with something baggier, so that her skin could easily breath. The turquoise fabric almost matched the tint of her eyes, but it did a better job in exaggerating her bright locks.

"Fine." Short and to the point, Sasuke's answer was said in as much a boring tone as everything else he ever said. Nevertheless, Ino always figured it was to rest his singing voice; after all, it wouldn't do well for him to say everything loud and hearty – like _somebody_ she knew – and risk straining his vocal chords. Just as Ino opened her mouth to start explaining how _interesting _her Friday night was, a bunch of grunting noises emanating from the door interrupted her. When she turned around, she pulled a face that easily displayed how unimpressed she was.

Naruto was bent over at the waist, focussing all of his concentration on a head of mussed up brown hair that he had locked in a loop formed by his left arm. His free right hand was balled up and running his knuckles over the scalp of the aforementioned head. All the while, the second body was struggling like a fish out of water, arms grabbing wherever they could get a purchase on Naruto's body.

"Think you got me, huh?" Naruto managed to get out with a heavy breath, "Think again, Toto!" The name only brought a louder growl from the body he had restrained.

"Let…go!" The growl turned into something that a human would understand. Feeling compassionate upon his friend for once, Naruto loosened his grip. The second body quickly righted himself before stepping away, only to pull a face of irritation as his assailant laughed at him again. Ino saw the utter state in which the drummer had left Kiba's hair, and had to admit that the guy had been roughed up to a humorous extent. Just as Ino thought a tiny chuckle would emerge, she was interrupted yet again. This time, it came in form of the obvious sound of throat clearance.

The two previously scuffling boys looked back to the door and found their teacher looking at them with lidded, unimpressed eyes. They couldn't tell much else, since that damn medical mask covered his nose and mouth. On the other hand, Naruto had the advantage. What with having known Zabuza for a while, Naruto had started to learn about reading emotions through the eyes. He could tell that Kakashi wasn't exactly thrilled.

"Erm…yeah, well…" Naruto started scratching the back of his head while looking at a very impressive speck on the dry board across from him.

"I mean…um, you know…" Kiba furiously tried to pat his hair down again, ironing out the biggest tufts before aimlessly scratching as his face.

"Find your seats…gentlemen." Kakashi's sarcasm leaked from the mask, it almost looked like the white material had been stained with it. Before he knew it, the teacher found his path miraculously unblocked and slowly made his way to the desk.

"Jackass", Kiba mumbled as he followed Naruto into one of the higher seating rows.

"Stalker", Naruto quickly shot back. What Ino didn't understand was that the pair of miscreants quickly tapped their fists against one another's before flopping into their respective seats. Weren't they scuffling like rivalling idiots a moment ago? How, in the name of all things normal, could they just make up like that?

Keeping her eyes on Naruto, she briefly took in his appearance. It wasn't all that different from Friday. He still had that black shirt on – she hoped to God it had at least been washed – but this time, the underlying t-shirt was an olive green. He had the same box frame-buckled belt, but his pants were navy, and rather baggy at that. Just as her eyes passed his bandana, quickly taking in his bright sapphire irises and weird whisker marks on his cheeks, she quickly took a look at his arms.

How had she not noticed it before? His forearms were bigger than average, that is if a comparison with Kiba's was a realistic assumption. Not only that, she also knew just what was hiding under that t-shirt…

'_I hate my mind'_, she quickly thought, _'Stupid thing keeps putting that…that…'_ She wanted to think 'idiot' like so many other times, but was the word good enough to describe him anymore, now that she knew what he was skilled at?

'_He's still immature through and through, so I don't see why not.'_

"Still thinking about Mister Beat?" A gentle voice flowed into her ear, but the effect was the opposite. Ino jumped with fright, having been caught off guard. Quickly turning her head to face the girl stood behind her at a greater height, she noted the pink hair and red spaghetti-strapped top…not to mention the evil Cheshire grin being fired her way. It was almost an exact replica of what had happened on Friday morning, only this time the girls' positions had been reversed.

"Shut up, billboard!" Ino quietly urged.

Sakura's distraction only allowed Ino to catch the end of a punishment that Kakashi had bestowed upon Kiba and Naruto. All she caught from the teacher was, "A childish punishment for childish students, I say." Both teens huffed at Kakashi's back, but eventually found a pen and started to write down on the sheets of paper that had been presented to them.

'_Yep, definitely an idiot'_, Ino confirmed.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after the morning register had been finalised, the students were already beginning to funnel out of the room…all except Naruto. He was busy finishing up the lines Kakashi had told him and Kiba to write as punishment for their immature antics. Being on the far side of the room, Ino, Sakura and Sasuke were closer to the back of the queue. Kakashi saw no need in looking over his students, for he already knew it was their responsibility to get to class; his job here was already done, so he decided to lose himself in the latest chapter of his 'Come Come' book. Naruto briefly looked up and saw the familiar cover, remembering how it was something he had said a year before that inspired Jiraiya's idea for the art. Kakashi's interest – nee, obsession – with the book made Naruto frown; God help him, should the silver-haired teacher find out he was the godson of the series' author.

As he looked back down at the paper to write the last few repetitions of _'If I want to wrestle with my friends, I'll do it in the ring, not in school'_, he inadvertently latched on to the conversation of two passing students.

"So, Sakura", Ino started, grabbing the rosette's arm and stopping her at the front row of the seating area Naruto occupied, "Did you enjoy Friday night?" Sakura initially looked at Ino in confusion, but a lithe finger pointing at the supposedly ignorant blonde nearby made her realise just what the gossiper was getting at. She hung her mouth open as a silent message of getting the hint before smiling.

"Oh yeah!" Sakura chimed a little too artificially for Ino's tastes, but the conversation wasn't meant to be all that real anyway, "I had a _really_ fun time. What about you, was there anything you liked?" Ino bit her lower lip, trying to hold back an impending giggle. She stole a glance back at Naruto, but he was still writing on his lonesome, seemingly ignorant to what was around him.

"Well, there was this band. I've never heard of them before, it was full of weirdoes, but they were funny to watch." Committing to her verbal prank and preparing for the kicker, Ino failed to notice that the miniscule, but not unnoticeable, sound of pen scratching on paper had ceased.

"Really?" Sakura asked, "What was the name of this band?" Her eyes turned in the direction that she knew Naruto was sitting, but didn't risk looking over at him specifically. Ino innocently swivelled her body from side to side, accompanying it with a hum as to pretend to rack her thoughts over the 'mystery band'.

"I think it was called, erm…Rasen…Shuriken?"

SNAP!

Both girls quickly looked over to the believed source of the sound. Naruto's head was hung low; the restrained hair of his fringe could no longer fight back against gravity, and blocked the top half of his face from view. His mouth was a flat line, but the way his lips seemed tight against each other was a clear sign of tension. And that was when they looked at his writing hand.

His grip had completely snapped the pen.

Naruto sat as still as the dead, seeing the ink from the pen seep out beneath his fist in the corner of his eye. The pen, he realised, had become just like the secret he was trying to keep: broken and leaking for everybody to see. A small pond of black grew and grew on the surface of the desk, spreading and staining everything it could touch. Only when he noticed the blackening of his hand did he slowly open it, easily feeling the stinging across his palm. Black had mixed with red in his hand as the latter seeped from numerous small puncture wounds created by the remains of the pen.

He hadn't just snapped the pen…he had _shattered_ it.

Keeping his injured hand still, he slowly raised his left in the manner a student would to ask or answer a question.

"Kakashi-sensei", his voice was unbelievably hollow and cold, like the energy he had when entering the room with Kiba had been drained like the ink and blood mixture falling from his hand, "Can I go, please?" The teacher didn't even look up from his book as he answered.

"Have you finished the lines?" Ino and Sakura were shocked into silence by Naruto for the second time in four days. The fact he was so still and sounded so emotionless was a scary enough thought, but what made the duo even more concerned was the simple fact they were the ones that had pushed him into becoming so.

"No." Naruto answered honestly, still looking at the slowly degrading paper beneath his head.

"No lines, no leave, Naruto." Simply hearing Kakashi's ignorant tone tugged at Naruto's growing anger. Without another word, he violently grabbed the paper, caring not for its condition, and marched down the stairs, still paying not a single ounce of attention to the source of the eyes that were pasted upon him. He forced the paper upon the surface as he reached the desk, the noise of which made Kakashi look up. Just as he was about to open his mouth and chastise the young man, a palm was thrust towards his face, stopping only inches away from the mysophobe's nose. The teacher's pupils quickly constricted upon seeing the blood-and-ink-stained hand.

"Look, Kakashi-sensei, is that blood?" Naruto asked with force, none too lightly placing a finger at one of the needle-like punctures in his palm. Kakashi didn't even respond, he just leant back into his chair to try and escape the Petri dish that Naruto's hand had become, but the teen's words also had an effect on him, "I'd hate for it to get _infected_ in any way." Almost as soon as he'd finished verbally probing at his teacher, the older man was pointing at the door.

"Go and wash your hands, Naruto." He said shakily, and a lot louder than necessary, "And get the physician to wrap it up or…something!" Naruto didn't show any sign of gratitude as he made for the door. He would have gotten out without any more problems, but he made one small mistake.

He had locked eyes with Ino.

It had only been a passing glance, but he had looked right into the eyes of the girl that had just willingly chosen, in his opinion, to try and break his spirit. He found himself immediately regretting the action as he turned right out of the classroom and in the direction of the nearest bathroom. It was because he had looked at her that he knew he had just given himself away.

Ino had turned to let her eyes follow Naruto's exit, but the second he had left, she was committing his eyes to memory.

He had only looked at her for less than a second as he moved, but she saw it all: anger, hurt, fear, admission…hate. In that small window, he looked like he wanted to rip her spine out and burn her to something less than ashes; it was the incident on Friday multiplied by one thousand. But amongst the malice she witnessed, she could also see one thing…

He was scared.

* * *

The sound of rushing water bounced off the tile walls, but never entered Naruto's ears. His mind was suddenly working overtime, even at this point in the morning. He was already asking himself so many questions.

How in the name of all holy hell did they find out? When did they find out? What was he going to do? What would the others say?

Why did _they_ have to be the ones to find out?

Even as his furious scrubbing wrote off tissue after tissue, Naruto couldn't stop the questions from bombarding him. In a fit of frustration, he threw the most recent ball of wet paper in his hand at the wall on his right. The moisture and speed of the object caused it to splat against the tiles, holding it against the vertical surface like a natural adhesive. But Naruto didn't care, he was summing up the situation in the best way he knew how.

"Shit!"

* * *

**A/N: First of all, thank you so much to everybody who reviewed chapter one. 35 reviews for an opening chapter of a niche pairing is quite something for a noob author such as myself, I have to admit. Much to my surprise, the response was overwhelmingly positive. You hardly had a bad thing to say about it. I've got a feeling that this chapter will garner some critique, mostly because of how I handled the characters. I tried to add some comedy as well, but I have a feeling that I failed miserably.**

**It seems that almost all of those who reviewed liked the whole 'listening whilst reading' thing. At least it had the effect I was hoping to produce.**

**If anyone's curious, the song whose outro is mentioned when Naruto's walking home is 'Fear of the Dark' by Iron Maiden. I don't own anything regarding that song, mkay?**

**On a more serious note: I do not, nor have I ever had a relative that is or has been diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism. I simply researched for medical conditions that could unexpectedly become lethal, in relation to Hizashi. If you, or anybody you know does, or has had a pulmonary embolism, fatal or not, please accept my apologies if I have caused any upset.**

**I left out the Sunday practice for two reasons: 1. I was already hitting my general word count quota, and I couldn't be bothered to write any more. 2. I was thinking it would be better to add as a flashback later on.**

**For those who put music suggestions in reviews, I'm grateful, but the stuff you put up wasn't what I had in mind. I'll narrow it down for you. If you know of any bands that have: vocals of the growling and clean variety, a lead and rhythm guitarist, a bassist, a drummer and a keyboard of some sort, be it synth sounding or whatever, then please don't be afraid to send suggestions. On the other hand, I'm looking for songs that 'Will of Fire' will use. So providing a band has a clean singer, two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer, then don't be afraid to mention it.**

**Bands I plan on using for RasenShuriken: Scar Symmetry (both pro and post-Christian Älvestam), Solution .45, Raintime, D Creation, Universum, Mercenary, Lunarsea (maybe), Insomnium (maybe at a later date), Dead by April (maybe), Sylosis (maybe), Sybreed (maybe)...and others when I find them.**

**I would list my ideas for Will of Fire, but I'll leave some of that up to you guys.**

**Reviews of all kind welcome except anonymous etc etc. If you like it, put it on your alerts, if you love it, put it on your favourites. Chapter one got 86 faves, try and surprise me now! Thanks everybody, and I'll see what I can do about updating quickly**

**IF YOU HAVE READ MY THREE-SHOT, 'JUST REWARD', THEN PLEASE VOTE IN THE POLL ON MY PROFILE.**

**Ja ne.**


	3. The Rhythm of Life's Bad Timing

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing belonging to the Naruto universe…yadda yadda…*ties hands to a concrete block and jumps from a river-crossing bridge***

**Firstly, a very big 'thank you very much' to all of you who reviewed the last chapter or put a favourite/alert on the story. Chapter two got a whopping 39 reviews, and there was barely a bad word to be found amongst them! As I said before, this is probably my most popular fic so far, and although I did put off this next addition for a while, it's mostly because I was trying to think of a decent way to keep the plot moving. I wasn't sure how the school day was going to map out, so I had to spend a bit of time thinking about it.**

**Also, I'd like to especially thank SilverMick64, who created an account for the sole purpose of writing a review for chapter 2. I was very touched by the sentiment, and I hope I don't disappoint with this instalment.**

**The biggest critique this fic is getting is its chapter length. WTH? I thought bigger chapters were better! It gives you more bang for your metaphorical buck! Meh, either way, this is another 10k+ chappy, but it focuses more on a small school time window, rather than a whole 24-hour+ span. **

**I've actually had a few people PM me asking about the possible importance of the red haired woman I mentioned in the flower shop in chapter 2. I will answer this as plainly as I can: No. That woman has no significance in the plot. She is nobody familiar, and she is not an OC, she is just a botany-loving Saturday shopper.**

**Okay, enough of that. Let's get to the reason why you're here: the story. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Face The Music**

**A Naruto Fan Fiction**

**Chapter 3: The Rhythm of Life's Bad Timing**

**Konoha High School – 09:26 hrs**

He hated coming to school, he really did. Day in and day out, they would be there waiting for him; simpering, blushing, swooning, ass-kissing…nothing constructive, in his opinion. He wanted to question why everybody would act so brainless, for he was but one person thrust into the sample of a large and hectic life. All he ever did was sing, all he was really known for was singing…and that was it. He would have bothered asking whether a voice alone really was enough to rile crowds of mindless drones in reality, but the answer had already been shoved in his face over the past year. They all smiled at him; he knew why, but to him it was nothing but fakery brought about by the admiration of a false pretence.

'_Is my voice really the only thing that matters?'_ Uchiha Sasuke thought to himself drearily, taking in the densely populated corridor that swam around him. Standing in front of his locker with arms folded and a face that screamed ignorance, he watched as the crowd flowed around his personal space like iron shavings around a magnet. He paid no heed to the chirpy _'Hi Sasuke-kun'_s and embarrassed turning of heads as he caught the glances of girls who knew that their gazes weren't meant to meet, for otherwise it would spoil the illusion of a chase that, to Sasuke, never existed in the first place.

Why did they always hound him? He liked singing, truly he did, he'd been doing it since he was eight years old; but the way these…_sheep_…badgered him without a care towards neither how he felt nor what he was truly like as a person was gruellingly aggravating. He may have had an illusion of greatness inside the massive walls of the school, but outside he was still behind, struggling to find something in which he could prove a genuine form of superiority.

Yes, Will of Fire was one such method, but it was a school band, thus he could not direct the flow and make it something he could be proud of without prior approval from about four different teachers, some officials, and his band mates.

Sasuke was not the only apparent stuck up person in his family. His brother, Itachi, had once been in the band spot that the younger Uchiha now possessed, but he had moved to greater heights. Graduating from the prestigious Akatsuki University in Amegakure, the twenty-two year old Itachi was very quick to succeed in grabbing a medical internship; his amazement with optical theory and the complexities of human sight urged him to study in the field of ophthalmology. Sasuke wanted to tighten his jaw at the thought, not because of Itachi himself; no, he was very proud of his brother, but it was because of the unbelievable feeling of expectation that his father had now placed upon him.

Uchiha Fugaku may have only got as far as graduating high school himself, but his own drive to become better whilst protecting his loved ones never faltered. Mere weeks before meeting his future wife, Mikoto, a twenty-six year old Fugaku had already become a Sergeant in the Konoha Police Force. By the time Itachi was born, the proud father was a Captain, and just as Sasuke was starting middle school, he had become a Deputy Inspector at the 4th Precinct, located close to the city centre.

So the Uchiha's were generally hard working, but that didn't mean that they were above thinking of themselves as superior. Sasuke hated the bogged-down feeling that had adorned itself atop his head over the past two years. Constantly, whether bad or good, Fugaku was always talking about his high hopes for both of his sons, how he expected them to become great in whatever field they should choose. Something that helped the general populous was definitely a good way to go, that is if Fugaku's reaction at Itachi's internship was anything to go by, but it seemed that 'selfish' causes such as singing and performing were rather dim. The constant hounding pressure from his father was such a heavy weight, and Sasuke felt like there was hardly any way to ignore it.

He generally disliked school for two reasons:

The first was because of the attention he got, despite nobody's apparent insight into the heavy burden and constricted life placed upon him. They just didn't understand, and believing that they did was an affront to his person, in his opinion.

The second reason was because his studies always forced him down the path from which he desired to be freed. He would still strive to gain a decent education, but he wanted to go about it and his future in the ways _he_ wanted.

That was why he hated-

A harsh shove to his right shoulder knocked him off balance and out of his personal reflection. Finding his footing with a deep frown, he saw the offending person walk away from him without so much as a backwards glance. Feeling a slight ember of frustration in his chest, Sasuke quickly righted himself.

"Watch where you're going, loser!" The annoyed singer called out above the ambient chatter, still managing to make his voice sound as passive and dull as always. He ignored the looks of curiosity from some nearby students as his voice seemed to hit the back of the black-shirted offender and bounce off like a ping-pong ball. The familiar bandana-restrained hair of bright yellow atop the head of the body turned back enough to reveal an ice-cold blue stare that could freeze the sun.

"Bite me, choir boy!" The coarse tone of the ruffian steadfastly snapped back, but the boy in question simply kept moving away. Sasuke saw how both of the guy's hands seemed to meet in front of his body, hidden very well from view, before the offending moron - in Sasuke's opinion - turned into a bathroom on the left. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, he truly disliked that idiot of Class Four. The one who pranced around acting like nothing mattered just so happened to be the person he disliked the most, the one he was thinking about before being knocked about by said person.

The guy seemed to know nothing of pressure, of a life constricted to 'do this, do that'. He was free, able to do what he wanted and say what he wanted. Sasuke's apparent hatred of his peer came down to one simple sin: jealousy. He wanted to be able to have some amount of freedom in his life, but there was always somebody on his back, dictating is life. And even when he was away from home and in school, he had no choice but to restrain himself because of the reputation gained from the band and in order to work for the sake of pleasing his father. Even though his private life was less than pleasurable in his own opinion, he still loved his parents enough to want to make them proud of him.

Thinking about it in more of a long-term sense, Sasuke knew that he was setting himself up nicely. In contrast, Naruto surely looked like he was going to get his sooner or later, and Sasuke honestly wanted to be there to watch the ignorant one fall. Then again, how could one fall if they were already considered low?

This time, for Sasuke, ignorance born from arrogance was not bliss…

…it was downright stupid.

* * *

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to contract chronic depression if I continue to walk with you?" A light voice with a tinge of passive-aggressiveness entered the right ear of the blonde girl who stared mindlessly at the floor as she paced the corridor…only for it to pass straight out of her left ear and break apart against the plastered wall beside her.

Those eyes…

"Hello?" Sakura patronisingly sang, humorously noting Ino's sudden non-responsiveness.

So angry, so menacing, so…full of distress.

"Piggy?" Now the tone of her friend was just getting ridiculously childish.

"WHAT?" So large was the shock of Ino's ear-breaking outburst that she herself jumped at the sound, along with her pink-haired friend, before covering her mouth out of common decency. Quickly looking around, the embarrassed blonde noticed the nearby students giving her two types of strange looks: the girls appeared slightly humorous about it, since the 'famed Yamanaka-sama' was put in an uncomfortable position; whilst the eyes of most boys fell somewhere in the region lower than her chin, creeping ever so slowly to the lowest part of her v-neck. Duly noting the stares, she huffed despondently before making with haste for the nearest staircase, Sakura quickly in tow.

Hanging at her friend's five-o'clock, Sakura watched with an unnecessary interest at how Ino's hard steps against the stairs gave her hips a completely unintended - but exaggerated, nonetheless - sway. Jeez, even when annoyed the blonde managed to continue exerting – and effectively show off – her beauty; such an observation brought a small pang of jealousy to Sakura's chest. Despite that, Sakura could feel relieved that she didn't get as much hampering attention as Ino; sure, the occasional guy would give her the once-over, maybe even compliment her figure if they had the nerve to speak up, but they never went as far as wolf-whistling at her, much like they did with Ino.

'_Maybe if some guy can pull her away from Sasuke-kun one day, I'll be in with a b__etter chance.'_ Alas, all Sakura could think about in regards to comparing herself to Ino were her opportunities in grabbing the singer. Sakura let her mind frivol around the thought as she followed Ino around the hairpin of the staircase that sat at a height between the ground and first floors. It was only as they exited the stairs and proceeded forward along the near-desolate first floor corridor that Sakura bothered noticing the tense silence that loomed above them like a tiny raincloud.

"Why are you getting so wound up about it? He broke a pen and hurt his itty-bitty hand, it's not like Mutual Assured Destruction was looking you in the face, right?" Sakura tried to ease the aforementioned tension by chuckling inside her declaration. Of all the things that could have happened after speaking, the rosette certainly didn't expect Ino to stop dead in her tracks, spin on her heel and glare at her like she was from a different planet.

"Were you in even in the same room as me?" Ino enquired in a tone of exaggerated worry. Sakura didn't say or do anything in response, which was why Ino took a step forward and firmly placed her one free hand on her friend's shoulders. When she spoke again, Ino's voice had turned shaky and with some amount of hyperactivity, which seemed to go well with her wide eyes and upturned brow.

"Did you see the look in his eyes? He looked like he wanted to destroy me!" Her speech trailed off with a highly squeaky inflection. The effect it had on Sakura wasn't what was generally intended, because the pink-haired girl simply scoffed and shrugged Ino's hand off her body.

"You're overreacting, Ino. Maybe the physician has some chill pills she can prescribe." Ino's jaw dropped in disbelief...her friend was messing her about! Now was _so_ not the time for that.

"And what if _you_ came across somebody who looked like they wanted to chop you into little pieces, huh? Would you go to their house with a chainsaw and just tell them to 'have fun'? You're supposed to be backing me up here, you walking highway sign!" Now it was Sakura's turn to let gravity carry her jawbone south, punctuating it with a frown of disdain. Ino looked amazingly unremorseful for her jab, even as Sakura huffed with an upturned head and walked off without a word. Ino wanted to fold her arms, but realised that her books were prohibiting her from performing such an action; she wanted to walk in the opposite direction, but remembered with aggravation that the room of her first class sat on the same path that Sakura was taking. Taking a brief pause to gather herself, she made her way towards what may very well be, in her opinion, the last class of her life...because Naruto had this slot with her as well.

For every step that brought her closer to her doom, she began to mentally list everybody that she was going to write farewell notes to: Sakura, her parents, that brown-haired woman who worked at the local branch of 'Bi' – a large clothing chain – who was always there to give Ino accurate observations on what would go well in her wardrobe...

'_Hell, I might as well write my Senior Prom Queen __Acceptance speech while I'm at it..."_ Indeed, Ino was _that_ confident that she would have been nominated by her peers for the prominent 'ten–minutes-of-fame' role. Sadly, as with all moments of reserved thought, time flew by, and Ino was already turning right to walk through the doorway of room 102 and heading for her usual seat.

'_More like 'Final Resting Place'...'_ She contemplated with dread before turning a humorous thought to her headstone, _'"Here lies Yamanaka Ino, a young beauty suddenly taken from us by a drumstick-related incident."' _The blonde looked out across the room as she claimed her seat next to a silent and visibly miffed Sakura, who herself didn't say a word as she aimlessly twirled a ballpoint pen between her fingers.

The majority of the study rooms on the first floor were oriented around theoretical and more academically constructed work that didn't involve the implementation of practical and hands-on studies. Most of the work was done with the age old pen, paper and textbook, not dissimilar to Class 4's homeroom. Room 102 had the most simple – and undeniably bland – layout that could ever be created by a teacher. The front wall housed a white dry board, scratched from its years of usage (and occasional student abuse), and with the teacher's desk sat a few metres away from it in the top left corner. The whole left wall was lined with hip-height, ripple-paned windows that seemed slightly darkened by a layer of polarising film; it dimmed the sunlight that was able to access the room, and it ruined the view of the grassy courtyard from the inside. The student seating was also relatively dull; there were three equidistant columns of two-seater tables that stretched to the back to make a total of six rows, meaning the room could accommodate 36 students.

Ino was soon racking her mind as she sat in tense silence with her only support, who herself looked like she was going to relinquish that role if Ino said so much as a single syllable pertaining to any form of signpost, billboard or advertisement prop.

'_Maybe he did go to the physician,'_ she pondered, _'maybe she told him to take it easy and sent him somewhere...somewhere that _isn't_ here. Oh God, he's not sitting in the cafeteria and plotting is he? Argh! I don't want to die...at least not until I've graduated...but that still doesn't mean I'd be willing to die after that, either!'_

"Oh, look who it is..." Ino somehow caught Sakura's ignorant remark and looked to her right to find her friend looking back at the door. The duo was sat in the second row of the column closest to the door, and as such they could only take note of the influx of students as they entered the room. Ino's complexion appeared to pale when she caught glimpse of a black shirt with rolled up sleeves, an underlying olive green t-shirt, and dark navy pants. Hoping to make herself scarce, Ino immediately snapped her head down to look at the graffiti-laden surface of the desk, raising her left hand to the side of her face as an extra resort.

'_Don't look up...don't look up...don't look up...__' _was her mind's adamant order to her body. So what did she do?

She looked up.

* * *

**Four**** Minutes Earlier – Konoha High School – Ground Floor**

"Son of a bitch..." a despondent blonde-haired teenager grumbled inside a harshly ejected breath as he slowly and repeatedly curled his fingers back and forth over the pinkish skin of his right palm. The profanity was not directed at the pain caused by the small punctures that dotted his hand like an artificial star constellation, that pain was actually very miniscule. What the curse _was_ directed to, though, was the teen himself for having allowed the incident to occur in the first place, not to mention the severely hampering thought that he had been completely compromised. His mind felt ragged from the sudden onset of frustration, dread, worry, anxiety and almost every other emotion that could be linked to the phrase, _'Holy shit, what the fuck am I supposed to do now?'_.

"You seem conflicted." A calm voice spoke out to Naruto's left. Still giving his hand an unnecessary dexterity test, the blonde looked over and met the bland, black-ringed stare of his friend, classmate and fellow instrumentalist, Sabaku Gaara. A generally detached young man who only spoke when he felt it to be of utmost necessity, Gaara wore a long-sleeved red shirt with an overlaying grey hooded sweater; on his lower half was a simple pair of black pants that thinned out into a pair of dark-grey sneakers. The two stood at an equal height, looking at each other eye-to-eye, subtly probing the other's thoughts through their retinas; well...one more so than the other.

"Gaara..." Naruto said quietly, a loose breath inside the remark told the keyboardist that his company was somewhat appreciated, as well as some form of relief to the visually confused drummer.

"We have Social Studies next, we can talk on our way there", Gaara blandly stated before heading off, giving Naruto another reason to maintain his bemused expression. Even as Naruto swiftly caught up, dodging a student that was walking the opposite way for his troubles, Gaara could tell that the somewhat secretive blonde was a lot more interested in his hand than a conversation; the fact of such was made all the more obvious by how Naruto tried to unsuccessfully suppress another grumble that lay in his throat. Gaara didn't look across at his company, but was internally curious as to the whiskered boy's present attitude.

"You're bothered by something," Gaara spoke calmly whilst still looking ahead, "What is it?" The only thing the redhead received in response was silence. Looking across, he immediately knew that his question had fallen upon deaf ears, because Naruto was still looking at his hand, a hand that had soon caught the keyboardist's attention. The redhead's pale eyes slowly and thoroughly scoured the surface of the drummer's palm; even as Naruto's body bobbed with every step he took, Gaara could clearly make out the numerous dark dots that painted his peer's skin.

"It's been at least six minutes since I last saw you at homeroom, what could have happened in such a small window that has you acting in such an out-of-character manner?" Gaara had never been subtle in his use of vocabulary, and as such there had been moments in which the keyboardist thought that Naruto was ignoring him for a very trivial reason. In reality, Naruto was flummoxed by Gaara's complex tongue to the extent that he had to spare a few seconds in order to decode, and then respond to, the query.

Naturally, this was one of those moments. After a good ten seconds, and realising that Gaara was asking, _'What the hell's up with you, then?'_ in a longer-than-necessary manner, Naruto finally opened his mouth whilst intentionally gazing at the floor.

"Don't worry about it, you wouldn't care anyway." Gone was the excitement and chirpiness, Naruto's voice was now cold and calculating, which was the exact reason for why Gaara continued.

"You assume too much of me, Naruto. I am willing to lend an ear to your situation, so please do not be so swift in disregarding my offer to help. After all, Temari may wish to follow up if you don't confer to me."

That made Naruto freeze on the spot. He had never mentioned it to anybody in the band, but they all knew clear as day that a riled up Temari was one of the few things that scared the drummer. This was the biggest reason for why the guitarist's flirtatiousness after the gig on Friday night made Naruto steadfastly uncomfortable. Although a kind woman in her best moments, Temari's attitude could swiftly transition between pleasant, angered, hard-going, and chipper depending on who was around and what things had been said. Naruto, not wishing to elongate the matter, was quickly on the defensive.

"Alright, alright", Naruto waved a hand at Gaara to indicate his surrender, "But I still don't think you'll understand." Gaara was the first to start climbing the staircase, but continued to talk out in front of him like a man in a trance.

"There's a difference between not caring and not understanding. To not care shows a willing lack of empathy or sympathy. To not understand is almost akin to sympathy itself." Naruto raised an eyebrow and a corner or his upper lip in confusion, his mental dictionary and thesaurus clearly unable to comprehend what had just been preached by the admittedly more intellectual teenager.

"Erm, yeah, sure…whatever you say", Naruto gave a small roll of his eyes before jokingly murmuring under his breath, "Poindexter." Gaara caught the name and slightly turned his head to the right, allowing a brooding-but-smirking Naruto to enter his peripheral vision. As a gesture of humility, the redhead allowed the corner of his mouth to rise a few millimetres before dropping it like a brick. Just as the pair reached the turn in the staircase, Naruto finally answered the question that Gaara had spent at least two minutes waiting to hear.

"Yamanaka found out…and I think Haruno did as well."

Initially, Naruto thought that this would make Gaara stop. On the contrary, the keyboardist just kept walking, but he had slowed his pace down in order to allow Naruto more time to elaborate. The blonde also thought that what he had said would be enough to make Gaara realise exactly what he was talking about.

"Is that all?" Gaara's impassive tone struck at Naruto's patience, and the drummer easily demonstrated it by reaching forward and forcefully turning the redhead to face him. Despite the incensed gaze suddenly being fired at his face, Gaara stood as still and unaffected as ever.

"What the hell do you mean, 'is that all'?" Gaara could tell that Naruto was trying his best to not cause an attention-gaining ruckus on the upper half of the staircase by forcefully hushing his annoyed tone.

"She…" The blonde quickly looked up and down the staircase in a paranoid-like manner, "…she knows I'm in the band, dammit." All of a sudden, Naruto's voice had quietened and given off a defeatist kind of tone; despite that, Gaara's face remained unaffected, but he tilted his head as a means of conveying that he had at least heard what Naruto was putting across. Sadly, the reaction of unaffectedness was all that Gaara could give, and it spoke out in his response.

"I see. Unfortunately, Naruto, this is the kind of scenario that does not affect me. I don't know why, but you have always been careful, sometimes overly so, about not letting this school know of your musical affiliation." Naruto listened intently with a downtrodden frown still hovering over his eyes, and quickly jumped in to correct whatever deductions that Gaara had been incorrect about.

"It's not the _school_ that I get scared about."

Gaara, now finding an opening through which he could understand Naruto's reasoning, pressed on by asking, "So what is it, then?"

That was enough to make Naruto's speech immediately halt and his eyes nervously break contact with Gaara's pale but drilling gaze. Gaara stood patiently but attentively in wait for Naruto's reason, however strange or farfetched, as to what always made him so secretive about his pastime around the students of Konoha high…at least the students who weren't part of the same pastime. Naruto simply took a step back and returned Gaara's stare for two seconds, by which time the keyboardist knew that the drummer wasn't going to give it up so easily. As Naruto continued up the stairs and left Gaara in his wake, he left some ambiguous words.

"Zabuza might tell you if you ask after the next practice." Gaara's brow slightly lowered as Naruto blew him off with such a casual air. This was now the second time that Naruto had ignored the responsibility of revealing his own personal matters, leaving the leader of RasenShuriken to explain or divert things, and although it didn't register on Gaara's features, it was certainly getting on his wick. The redhead would have kept the conversation going, but Naruto was soon to enter Room 102 and begin pretending that he and Gaara barely knew each other, just like he always did on school days.

Naruto suddenly found himself on even more of a downer due to Gaara's somewhat uncaring attitude. However, he couldn't blame him, for the problem was not Gaara's on the personal level, it was Naruto's. RasenShuriken certainly played a small part in his current situation, since he was the drummer for said band, but the ultimate problem came down to what Naruto was trying to keep secret and whom he was trying to keep from figuring it out. As he made his way through the doorway of Room 102, the class clown was hoping that he could hold off his worries for an hour or two while he got down to the source of it. Speaking of which…

"Oh look who it is…" Naruto heard a quiet, female tone emanate from his left as he walked into the classroom. He knew who it was, and the thought of the girl alone made him want to grind his teeth. Haruno Sakura annoyed him, plain and simple. She squealed, jeered and pissed and moaned like a goody two-shoes, and always had a competitive complex with that _goddamn friend_ of hers. Naruto cut into the first of the two columns separating the desks and, much to his frustration and rebuilding anger at having seen it, caught the glossy near-white hair of that _goddamned friend_.

'_For God's sake, don't fucking look at her. You gave it away the last time, so don't do it again.'_ Naruto adamantly thought to himself as he tried his hardest to look at the wall he was walking towards. The order to not look at the girl in question kept repeating itself in his head, so he did the only natural thing his body would allow.

He looked down; and found himself met with a teal stare that, much to his surprise, was emphasised with wide eyes and a high brow, instead of a smug sneer. But that wasn't what made him stop, it was the way those eyes physically dazzled and somehow captured his full attention, despite the stress they exhibited. The way her hand sat frozen by the side of her face only did a better job in framing the visible sections of her face due to the massive – and, in Naruto's opinion, unnecessary – fringe, it also made her look unfairly innocent, which made Naruto frown.

Did she think she could just mess with him in the way she did and not expect him to be unreservedly pissed at her? After trying to blow him out into the open like that?

On the other side of the ocular interaction, Ino was frozen solid due to the unremitting onslaught being fired towards her by a set of amazing sea-blue eyes. Despite all the rumours and visual dissidence that orbited the boy staring down upon her, his eyes looked so compassionate and even looked as if to rebel against his frown. How could he look so innocent facially, and yet act so boisterously in a physical manner?

It was those damn whiskers. If he acted or looked wild or menacing, those little cheek decorations doubled his animalistic effect; but when he looked at peace, much like as he was staring at her now, the weird feline marks only turned him into more of a kitten.

The two remained totally still, one probing their target for deep and hidden thoughts, while the other wilfully projected their obvious distrust and severe unhappiness. Only when Naruto heard echoed laughter from outside the room did he break his harsh eye contact and make for the rear of the room.

Ino suddenly felt a wave of relief akin to getting into a fight with a territorial lion and walking away with only a sore foot; even then, her eyes didn't move a single nanometre from the spot that Naruto used to occupy. She didn't pay one iota of attention to the stifled giggle originating from the seat next to her, nor the brown-haired boy wearing a black hooded sweater that walked past and threw a paper ball at the back of the room.

"Fuck off, Lassie!" Was the shout that came back seconds later; no anger was restrained as Naruto's coarse voice rang through the room. Inuzuka Kiba was quick to reply in a hard but thoroughly defensive attitude.

"Holy shit, Naruto, what the hell got your panties bunched up?" Ino suddenly found that she was trying to make her body small again by looking back at the desk, the reason why was something only known by three people in the room. Naruto, meanwhile, was just sitting down as he shot his estranged friend a death glare after receiving a lovely paper ball to the back of his head, courtesy of the dog lover. Verily, the drummer was definitely not in the mood to be messed about, hence his verbally violent reaction; on top of that, Kiba's rhetorical question actually had an answer, and it was Yamanaka Ino. Naruto crossed his arms with fervour and punctuated his face with a childish pout as Kiba lazily slumped into the seat beside him.

"PMS much?" Kiba remarked with a strained voice as he stretched his arms out above him. Naruto, whose hard eyes were still firmly pasted at the platinum-blonde head of hair a few desks ahead and to the right of him, remained still.

"Shut up", he said sharply without letting his attention slip from his new nemesis. Kiba, ever the similar joker, continued the line of mockery.

"You want a tampon?" Kiba smirked as he looked out the corner of his eye. Naruto continued to paste his hard glare on the blonde girl who was now silently doodling on the inside cover of her notebook.

"You want me to spay you and make you a _real _bitch?" Naruto growled, finally looking over at his company with a look that said nothing less than, _'This boy is in no mood for jokes right now.'_ Kiba, although not unfamiliar with Naruto's patented angry face, raised his eyebrows and held his hands up defensively. His attention was soon diverted back to the entrance of the room as a beautiful young woman with long violet hair made her way to the left side of the room and walked down the aisle between the desks. She was a very striking girl who held an unbelievably peaceful air around her, her large lavender eyes could captivate anybody should she have wished it, and her gentle smile was enough to raise anybody's spirits on a rainy day.

"Dude, there's Hinata", Kiba whispered while leaning towards Naruto's ear and emphasising the girl by subtly pointing at her. Naruto didn't move his head, but his eyes briefly snapped across to look at his band mate's cousin and acknowledge that she was indeed who Kiba said she was. As if barely fazed by the girl, Naruto quickly turned his eyes back to the front of the room.

"And?" Naruto said in a somewhat uninterested manner. Kiba, being a fellow male, was struck by Naruto's impassiveness.

"_And?_ Just look at her, man; she's hot!" Naruto had to admit that with her graceful demeanour aside, Hyuuga Hinata was certainly a looker. The free-flowing white cotton fabric of her knee-length skirt openly displayed the fluid curve of her hips, while the waist curved inward around her midriff and met the bottom of her dark blue, short-sleeved blouse. Naruto shrugged his shoulders, all while Kiba had a smitten smile written across his face.

"If you like her that much, then why don't you ask her out?" Kiba was quick to stop his…spying…as Naruto fired some logic at him, and quickly lowered his head to look down at his desk.

"Erm...well, people are saying she likes someone else." Naruto was too bothered with his own personal matters to notice the strange look his friend gave him.

"Oh, yeah? Who?" Kiba wanted to smack himself in aggravation and repeat the motion upon Naruto for being so ignorant; however, whether that ignorance was deliberate or not was something the dog lover didn't know. Regardless, Kiba saw it as an opportunity to keep his friend from realising the sometimes blatantly obvious truth.

"Err, I don't know. So…what do you think of her?" Kiba decided to milk Naruto's dimness and find out the boy's own attitude. Naruto quickly looked over at Hinata again whilst tapping a small rhythm on the table surface with his fingers.

"I'll give that she looks pretty good, but she's way too quiet. Last time she tried to talk to me, she barely said 'hello' before she walked away like I was the goddamn plague. If I'll be honest, I don't think she likes me very much." Naruto knew that Hinata was aware of his out-of-school hobby due to her cousin, but Neji had informed him that she had agreed to keep that knowledge to herself; as such, he was a little more lenient when it came to the good-natured young woman, despite his belief that his mere presence rubbed her the wrong way. Kiba, for what is was worth, brought a palm up to this face, but inside he was jumping for joy.

'_You fuckin' idiot…'_ Kiba thought before, finally, their Social Studies teacher entered the room and walked over to his desk. With attentive eyes, the man quickly scanned the present students and parked himself behind his desk.

"Alright, settle down." The man's happy but calm tone was heeded with enough respect that one would expect from a teenage school class. The more sensible students complied, while two particular boys near the back started trying to slap each other. The reason for why it started stemmed from the blonde boy tapping his hands on the desk, and subsequently using Kiba's cranium as a ride cymbal. Noticing the kerfuffle, the teacher's eyes narrowed in disappointment before he performed his usual crowd control technique.

"NARUTO! KIBA! PACK IT IN!" Both of the ruffians turned their attention back to the front of the classroom, but that didn't stop Naruto from smacking Kiba's arm with the back of his fist as a 'last hit' sort of gimmick. Already slightly perturbed by the actions of his two irresponsible students, the teacher let the fingers of his left hand caress the scar that ran parallel to his eye line from cheek to cheek and marred the bridge of his nose. Although the way in which he suppressed rebellious students was often scaremongering, Umino Iruka was a kind-hearted and understanding man who was willing to lend an ear to any student who was willing to talk about any problems, both academic and personal, that may have been having a profound effect on said student.

It was commonplace for Shikamaru to be jokingly asked as to whether he had a long lost brother in Iruka, since the two shared the gravity-defying explosion-style ponytail that magically sprouted out the back of their heads.

"Right, now that I have everybody's attention, I'll take this opportunity to make sure that you all know of this new assignment that I've been asked to give you." A massive wave of groans and cries from the seated students washed over the teacher, who found a small sadistic part of him bringing out a mocking smile. For a brief moment, the teacher thought he heard someone say 'Dream on Iruka-sensei.' It wouldn't be hard to identify who that person was, since only one student in this particular class called him by his given name.

"Quiet, please", Iruka held up a hand in patience, and finally continued once the droning had reached a minimum, "Now…there's going to be a significant difference here, because you'll be working in pairs to write a report, a report that you'll be presenting to the year in the main hall." The 'main hall' that Iruka was referring to was only a second duty imposed upon the gymnasium, since the school was never constructed with a purpose-built performance hall.

"So what's this report going to be about, sensei?" A large, rotund boy close to the front of the class asked without bothering to put his hand up. Iruka, who was straightening out a pile of cover sheets on the desk, looked up in order to explain.

"Throughout history, there have been instances of people who have lived with hidden agendas. No, I'm not talking about government conspiracies, but more along the lines of people who have kept their real motives hidden whilst putting up a front against those that saw them in a natural light. For example, there was one man who lived his life as a traffic cop and was married to a city prosecutor, it turned out that he was a criminal who masterminded a massive organised crime syndicate." Iruka saw the obvious disbelief in the eyes of the students sat before him, but he didn't let that stop him. "In another case, there was a normal day-to-day radio presenter who was actually an informant for the ANBU, and he helped stop around ten planned acts of domestic terrorism. And so on and so forth." The teenagers, who were still sceptical of the stories Iruka had just mentioned, were waiting for the teacher to actually explain what it was they were meant to be reporting, despite the fact that they had a rough idea from his stories.

"In short, you and your partner will be writing about a person who has led a secret life. All the finer details have been made clear on these cover sheets. The deadline is a little over two months from now, on June seventeenth. That should give you plenty of time to make something at least half-decent. However, there is one thing you must be aware of." Iruka saw a familiar head of blonde hair sink as the face below it was smothered with a hand. Moving to the first desk of each column, Iruka gave each student a small wad of paper from which they could take a sheet and pass the rest down.

"Because of work that is sure to given to you in other classes, it is highly likely that the majority of your work will be compiled out of school hours. That means you will have to meet in your spare time in order to write this report. Now, as for your partners, I think we'll let the register decide." Ino's eyes shot open while her body froze. Naruto's body, meanwhile, went slack from disbelief.

"Let's see…" Iruka pondered as he held the class register up to his chest, pen at the ready, "…Aburame Shino?" There came a light hum from Iruka's left, and he looked across to see a boy with a black sweater hood blanketing his head and a pair of thick-lensed sunglasses blocking all possible view of his eyes.

"And…Akimichi Chouji?" Iruka looked at the second desk of the central column of desks. The arm of the student whose name he had called out made a sharp movement to reveal itself from underneath the desk.

"Here, sensei." The large young man with spiky brown hair tried is best to look innocent by throwing his gaze at everything other than the eyes of the teacher.

"Chouji, what have I told you about eating in class?" Iruka continued to stare at the hungry student with a raised eyebrow and inquisitive look. For what it was worth, the hungry boy had enough respect to look embarrassed. "Anyway, you and Shino will pair up for your report."

Naruto was now crapping himself. From an alphabetical standpoint, which seemed to be how the pairings were being determined, he was immediately below Uchiha Sasuke on the register, and only one person separated him from Yamanaka Ino. How could this day possibly get any worse?

* * *

**55 Minutes Later – Room 102 – Konoha High School**

Naruto was now sat alone in an empty classroom, arms folded and huffing through his nose as he found himself being stared down by Umino Iruka. Naruto felt that the reason he had been held back after the class was stupid, but he had a niggling feeling that the social studies teacher had another reason. It was only then that he thought back to what had happened.

* * *

_The student numbers were dwindling__, and each pairing that was confirmed made Naruto want to sink further and further into his seat and pretend that he didn't exist. Hmm, maybe he should have gone to see the medic in the first place, maybe then he would be placed in with somebody as a supplemental._

_Despite the popularity of surnames beginning with the letter 'I', Kiba seemed to be the only person in the room with such a family name. He got lucky because Hinata's surname was the last in the 'H' line. Haruno Sakura ended up with a random girl called Hibanara Hitomi, while Nara Shikamaru was partnered with Nobushi Motoko, a foolhardy but very sports-oriented girl._

_Naruto looked to his left and saw the up-himself singer sitting and brooding without a care in the world.__ But inside he was freaking out over the possibility of having to work with somebody that had it in for him for what must have been a totally ridiculous reason, all while Naruto himself didn't like the guy either._

"_Tsuchikawa Oda?" Iruka continued his visual trek down the register, as slowly but surely the number of students left to be accounted for dwindled. Just as he heard the student's reply, he looked up to confirm that the next person down the register was present, "You'll be with Uchiha Sasuke."_

_Naruto could finally breathe a sigh of relief. At last, something had gone in his favour._

"_Uzumaki Naruto…" Iruka simply said the name to himself, having seen and scorned the (unbeknownst to him) drummer once already, "Watanabe Kensuke?"_

_Total s__ilence._

'Open your mouth, Ken. Come on.' _Naruto mentally urged the called student to confirm his presence. Iruka, after a brief wait, repeated the name whilst thoroughly scanning the sea of students before him._

"_Huh," Iruka blurted in realisation, "Well, we'll have to put him somewhere later. Okay, next is…Yamanaka Ino?" The platinum blonde reluctantly opened her mouth to respond, she herself realising just who had been paired with her, but was immediately cut off by a loud bang that echoed throughout the room. Iruka's head snapped up from the register, and many of the students turned in their seats to locate the origin of the sound. What met their eyes was the sight of a sunshine-blonde head of hair with its owner's forehead lying flat on the surface of the desk._

"_Naruto?" Iruka called out, prompting more students to turn around and look at the boy in question, "Are you okay?"_

_Slowly, and rather creepily, Naruto rotated his head upward, rubbing his nose along the desk before allowing his head to be held up by his chin. The look in his eyes was so hollow that he now looked like a shell of what he used to be. It was only a few seconds before Naruto spoke up once again._

"_I'm absolutely…_fucking_ peachy, Iruka-sensei. I was just wondering whether my day could get any shittier than it already has." The ruffian spoke so confidently, but the profanity that sat within his explanation made people gape in shock. Not bothered by it himself, Naruto turned his head to imitate the ever-lazy Shikamaru; Iruka, however, held a hard frown._

"_S__ee me after class, Naruto."_

"_Whatever", the downtrodden blonde shot back. Just as he went to let his head relax on the desk in unhappiness, he noticed that Ino had her hands resting on her forehead, as if to also be dismayed by their newly-formed work coupling._

* * *

Because Naruto was thinking back to how he had been reprimanded yet again, he was unaware that the teacher, now sat across from him, was talking.

"…and I know that you haven't been the best and brightest student ever, but what concerns me more is how you seem to be totally unbothered by what consequences your actions bring to you. Sometimes I worry that you're willing to let your entire education go down the drain. Is…is everything okay at home?" Naruto was originally staring down at the paperwork strewn across Iruka's desk, but when he was asked about his domestic situation he was shooting a somewhat defensive look at the teacher.

"Yeah", Naruto broke his eye contact with a shrug of his shoulders and a rapid shake of his head, "Everything's fine. I mean, I'm only the godson of a pervert and people love to take the piss out of me for some really old and out-dated reasons, why wouldn't I be okay?" Iruka let off a nasal sigh, knowing Naruto's situation. The teacher was undeniably empathetic when it came to Uzumaki Naruto; from the very first lesson he had with the boy, Iruka knew that his student had some problems with both his school and personal life. He took the liberty of looking at the boy's record and was saddened to see his history, and how it became the source of his bullying problems. Iruka had been in almost the same boat when he was at school.

Almost.

"Look, Naruto, you just have to do your best to ignore those people who are troubling you…" Iruka's voice became muffled as Naruto drowned him out once again with his own thoughts.

'_You just partnered me to write a report with one of those __people who are 'troubling me', how in the hell am I supposed to ignore _her_?' _Naruto could imagine her jeering face constantly taking shots at him during the time in which they would have to collaborate on their report.

"…and I'm not sure whether your…'head-desk'…was in reaction to being paired up with Miss Yamanaka…"

'_It was. Consider yourself on the list of people who __are ruining my life.'_ Naruto pulled the 'depressed teen' card, in which almost everything bad that happened in a teenager's life was a direct attempt at 'ruining their life'.

"…and you're not listening to me, are you?" Naruto, who had been mindlessly nodding during his inner monologues, nodded yet again; however, he finally snapped back to reality when he didn't hear Iruka continue with his preaching.

"Err, yeah…I am", Naruto innocently said, but knew something had gone wrong when Iruka sent him a light frown.

"Oh, really? Then what did I just say?" Iruka crossed his arms in wait for what was more than likely to be the wrong answer. Naruto pulled a smirk as he replied.

"You asked if I was listening to you or not." Seeing Iruka's reaction, which was a very flat and sober glare, Naruto tried to suppress a laugh that threatened to break through his restrained smile. Iruka, aware that he had probably made Naruto late for his next class, shook his head in submission. Sometimes, the boy was just too stubborn for his own good, and it worried Iruka to think that it may become the teenager's downfall.

"Alright, never mind." Iruka looked at the leather-strapped watch on his left wrist before sighing. "I think I've made you late for your next class, so I'm sorry about that; just tell your teacher that I had to talk to you. And remember to tone down the language in future as well, please." Without a word, Naruto was up and walking towards the classroom door with the gaze of an attentive teacher burning into his back. As the young man walked out of sight Iruka began to wonder if anything would ever turn in Naruto's favour, having read about what the boy had gone through in his childhood, and seeing what kind of problems may be laying ahead of him in the near future if he didn't start taking his school life seriously.

What he didn't know, however, was that Naruto had had his own plans for the future.

* * *

**Konoha High School Cafeteria – 12:24 hrs**

The south-eastern wing of the high school (i.e. the wing that faced the entrance gate) was the largest out of the three wings of the main academic structure, for it had to accommodate some form of student and staff eatery, lest the board of education slap a fine and construction order on the school board. As was expected of any human being, hunger equalled grumpiness, so it was almost no surprise that the first sets of doors across the hall from the building entrance were those that opened up into the slick floor and musty, greasy smell of the cafeteria. Along the right wall from the entrance was the long hot plate down which the students queued, and the remainder of the large, open area was reserved for large and small group seating. Row after row of twelve-seat tables laddered along the left wall and encroached towards the centre, while smaller, four-seat tables lined the multi-windowed far wall which perfectly framed the gymnasium that sat in the far distance as if spotlighted by the ever-present sunshine.

It was a lovely sight, but it was a shame that a very disheartened drummer was left to bear witness to the sight on his own. Even then, he was only looking down at the tray of stereotypical lukewarm school food sat before him with a face of semi-repugnance. Just like on Friday, when he was spending the whole day revving himself up for the Sixty-Four Palms gig by paying more attention to his iPod than his work, he was currently drowning his ear canals with the world that he loved. He didn't just retreat to his audible haven in order to listen to music willy-nilly; it was the only way he could escape his damning reality, it allowed him a brief moment in which he could pretend that he wasn't a hampered and unpopular school student, and that his own personal 'secret life' hadn't been unveiled by one of the few people he was trying so hard to keep it from.

'_And now I have the _amazing_ pleasure of having to work with her.'_ Quickly shaking his head, Naruto removed his iPod from the confines of his right pocket and began flicking back over the album list, eager to find something new to focus his attention on…something gritty, something from one of his most admired bands: Kamizuru Ichizoku.

**(Song = Cypher Drone by Disarmonia Mundi)**

This group had immediately struck a chord in him for two reasons. The first was because the anger that was held in both the lyrics and general style of their instrumentals and vocals really connected with him when he had first heard them two years before. Secondly, he was amazed by the fact that they, as a group, consisted of only three people. One man was the vocalist and electronic programmer for the techno-sounding effects, a second man played the drums and bass guitar and often performed backup vocals, while the third member, who happened to be a woman, played the lead and rhythm guitar tracks.

**Got no time to think about what they did to me****  
****I have lost my former self and still I'm changing**

Lyrically, this song managed to vaguely connect with Naruto for the simple fact that it managed to slightly describe his thoughts and, at a stretch, the attitudes of those who mocked him.

**Rain, come down on me  
****N****ightfall, won't you just set me free?  
****Rain, come down on me  
****Rain on me**

**Just accept the sorrow - fade away  
****Look around for turning points - let me go  
****Bringing back tomorrow - led astray  
****'Cause you're the only one who knows**

**Just accept the sorrow - fade away  
****Look around for turning points - let me go  
****Bringing back tomorrow - led astray  
****'Cause you're the only one who knows**

The food long since forgotten, Naruto began tapping his free left hand next to the tray in order to simulate his hitting the snare drum of an imaginary kit. At the same time, underneath the table, he was doing his best to bob his heels up and down in synchronicity with the clicking bass drums; however, he had to restrain his movement enough that it didn't look like he had a massive onset of restless leg syndrome.

**Banish me to feel safe in your prison of gold and morality****  
****Cursing my birth as an aberration  
****A sick child of subhuman breed**

Okay, a lot of students may not have been all that nice to him, but Naruto was sure their general dislike of him didn't root as deep as wishing he had never been born.

**Life, it ends tonight  
****Breaking the chains of eternity  
****Life, it ends tonight  
****Set me free**

Okay, so maybe the suicidal hints that lay inside the lyrics weren't applicable to the drummer; but as a whole, only certain parts of the song applied to him.

**What should I know?  
****What should I do to get rid of you?  
****Your life to me equals nothing**

Indeed, what on Earth could Naruto do to get rid of Ino? She may not have been a nothing in his eyes, but the fact he now had to think about how he would handle being around her was enough of a mind-boggler.

**Nightfall, come down on me  
Rain, won't you just set me free?****  
****Nightfall, come down on me  
****R****ain on me**

**Jus****t accept the sorrow - fade away  
****Look around for turning points - let me go  
****Bringing back tomorrow - led astray  
****'****Cause you're the only one who knows**

**Just accept the sorrow - fade away  
****Look around for turning points - let me go  
****Bringing back tomorrow - led astray  
****'****Cause you're the only one who knows**

**Take me back to where my soul still means a thing****  
****I don't need your world of lies, just want release**

To that small lyric, Naruto could only relate the place his soul 'still meant something' as the house he shared with his godfather. He could properly be himself in that single sanctuary…it was a shame that very few people ever saw just what the 'real him' was like. If only they were more understanding…

**Memories are just fading ghosts telling the story of someone else****  
****I never had a past, the present is a lie and now I know my future is dead**

**Life, it ends tonight  
****Breaking the chains of eternity  
****Life, it ends tonight  
****Set me free**

**Rain, come down on me  
****Nightfall, won't you just set me free?  
****Rain, come down on me  
****Rain on me**

**Just accept the sorrow - fade away  
****Look around for turning points - let me go  
****Bringing back tomorrow - led astray  
**'**Cause you're the only one who knows**

**Jus****t accept the sorrow - fade away  
****Look around for turning points - let me go  
****Bringing back tomorrow - led astray  
****'Cause you're the only one who knows**

Naruto swiftly finished off the song by miming the outro drum track with subtle hand movements, so as not to garner any unwanted attention. He truly loved Kamizuru Ichizoku, their style sat well with his general music interests, and he was genuinely upset to hear that they would never tour for the simple fact that they were a band of only three people. The option of recruiting musicians to collaborate had been raised, but they had never been keen on the idea.

'_What I'd give to play on-stage with them'_, the young musician thought before he saw the cafeteria losing its student populous at a rate of knots. Figuring the lunch period was coming to an end, he quickly stood up and picked up his tray of half-eaten mulch.

And now Naruto was back in the harsh reality of life, back to asking himself questions about Ino and – on the odd occasion – Sakura.

* * *

**Konoha ****High School Forecourt – 15:36 hrs**

The whole day had provided nothing but prolonged sunshine that caressed every little nook and cranny it could possibly reach; and even as the sun began its inevitable decent back towards the horizon, it still shone high and proud over the city of Konoha as if to live up to the name of the city's host, Fire Country. Sitting quite comfortably on the circular bench that soaked up the shade of the large oak tree in the forecourt was the day's most unfortunate boy. With his elbows on his knees and his arms crossed, Naruto looked halfway towards a full hunching position as he bobbed his head to another fitting song that his iPod had automatically selected through the 'Shuffle' setting. He watched with a somewhat overly-attentive eye as the ball of his right foot repeatedly lifted off the ground and touched back down as it tried to play out one half of the tune's rhythm; if he used both feet, his elbows would jitter all over the place and it would make the boy look like he was having a miniature seizure.

Despite the fact he was free of school for another fifteen hours or so, Naruto wasn't looking forward to informing Jiraiya of what had happened over the course of the day. The reason for this was founded on the fact that the old geezer would always ask him how his day had been. Having lived with him for over ten years, the author could read Naruto like a proper book, and he could easily tell when his godson was lying.

'_I know I've fallen in too deep  
__I cry out  
__But who will end my screams?'_

Naruto suddenly felt that even his little electronic companion was trying to deliberately throw his mood into the gutter, too. The drummer's thumb slid over the touch-sensitive surface of the device as he tried to pick out a song that had body, but at least something tantamount to pleasant lyrics. However, his thumb froze dead as the thin veil of shade enveloping his body darkened considerably, whilst directly around him it maintained a certain degree of opacity. Rotating his head to the right in order to follow the path of the darker shade, he came across a pair of somewhat small shoes directly connected to the ankles of some denim-covered legs. He slowly looked up, taking in how the body slimmed as he came to its waist, but the slightly baggy turquoise t-shirt didn't give him an accurate denotation of the body's upper section.

His inquisitive stare quickly transformed into a hard frown as he met the sky blue eyes and platinum blonde hair that he had come to associate with the day's severe misfortune. Hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened before their first lesson, Naruto quickly broke his eye contact and looked back at the fine gravel a few feet ahead of the bench. Quickly, his right hand shot up and got a grasp of the wires sprouting from underneath his shirt before forcefully yanking them down, pulling the attached buds from his ears and leaving them to dangle freely from his neck.

"What the hell do you want?" Naruto shot out in a heavily restrained tone of distinguishable unease. He didn't bother to look over at his company as she stood silent for a grand total of five seconds before replying with something he genuinely wasn't expecting to hear from someone of her standing.

"To talk."

* * *

**A/N:**** Phew! There we go! To be honest, I'm not all that fond of this chapter. It's mostly because I consider it pseudo-filler for what will come in the next chapter. The only non-filler parts of it would be the Sasuke-oriented section at the start and the report that Naruto and Ino are paired up for, I had that planned before I wrote chapter 1.**

**I know I've only touched a little bit so far on why Naruto has been so secretive about his musical talent, but that's because it was my plan to explain it properly in the next chapter. **

**I hope you listened to the Disarmonia Mundi track that was featured, like I've said before, it's to increase the feeling of immersion. Also, I won't be using the names of any real world bands in this fic, hence the name 'Kamizuru Ichizoku'. I'm using real world songs, but I will be changing the names for the 'in-fic' bands. Disarmonia Mundi really does only consist of three people, and even then the vocalist isn't a proper member, he's actually the front man for Soilwork.**

**Yes, 'Kamizuru Ichizoku' means 'Kamizuru Clan'. And yes, the three people I described are the Iwagakure clan members who were in the Bikochu bug anime filler arc from Part 1. They'll be brought out in greater depth at a later time.**

**And at ****last, Sasuke has made his first plot-relevant appearance.**

**You'll be surprised to know that the two 'secret life' examples that Iruka gave (the traffic cop and radio host) are actually true stories. Don't believe me? Look up William Leasure (traffic cop) and Hal Turner (radio host). Leasure was effectively a real world Keyser Soze, even today nobody has a clue as to how wide his criminal web had been spun.**

**I know I said ages ago that I was going to make Sakura the 'Sasuke's Bitch' character, but ever since I released chapter 2, I've been reconsidering by having her be affected by the RasenShuriken revelation as well. How, exactly, I'm not sure, but since I personally hate SasuSaku as much as I hate brussels sprouts, I think I can cook something up (pun partially intended).**

**In case anybody's curious, the song whose lyrics are featured whilst Naruto is sitting on the bench at the end is 'Conveyer' by Machinae Supremacy. Check it out, it's really catchy :-3**

**I'd like to extend my gratitude to everybody who put music suggestions in their reviews. Unfortunately, despite narrowing it down, nothing really stood out. As a result, I have already finalised Will of Fire's Battle of the Bands set. No more bets, please ;-P**

**Standard procedure, folks. If you like it, put it on your alerts, if you love it, put on your favourites. Reviews are very much appreciated. Let's see if we can break the 100 review barrier with this chapter!**

**What do you want me to release after the two things mentioned below? Don't be afraid to vote in the poll on my profile!**

**Music ****Disclaimer:**** All musical materials featured in this non-profit fictional work are the rightful properties of Disarmonia Mundi, Machinae Supremacy and the record labels associated with them.**

**Next 2 Planned Uploads:  
****1. Prologue and Chapter 1 of 'She Made Him Wait'****.  
****2. Chapter 9 of 'The Diary of an Ex Businessman'. I admit that I've been a moron and put it off for WAY too long, and I think it's time I took it off the shelf and put my arse into gear to get it rolling again.**


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